A Commercially Available Capacitive Stretch-Sensitive Sensor for Measurement of Rotational Neck Movement in Healthy People: Proof of Concept.

Freedom of neck range of motion has been identified for decades as an important indicator of neck health. In the past, neck motion has been measured in clinical settings using straight-plane movements that do not represent real-world 'ecological' performance. The tools currently used are low-fidelity analog or digital tools that rely greatly on the orientation of the person with respect to gravity, or the evaluator's ability to accurately align protractor arms with key surface markers for angle measurement. A possible solution lies in the use of wearable sensors for tracking the motion of the neck without clinical instruction. For this purpose, the focus of this paper is on the assessment of a commercially available stretch sensitive sensor, C-Stretch® against a gold standard for motion tracking. The sensor's accuracy and agreement for measuring neck rotations were evaluated. The results show that the stretch sensitive sensor was accurate with an average RMSE of 5.86° (SD=$4.38^{\circ}, \mathrm{n}=2$) and highly correlated $r=0.88-0.99,(p\lt0.01)$ with Aurora, an electromagnetic tracking system. This work may lead to using wearable sensors as a cost-effective, lightweight, and safe alternative to assess real-world neck range of motion for clinical application.

Architects' perspectives on construction waste reduction by design.

The construction, demolition and excavation waste arising in England was estimated at 91 million tonnes in 2003. The current thinking on construction waste minimisation is heavily focussed on several issues relating to physical construction waste and recycling guides. Indeed, much had been published on ways to improve on-site waste management and recycling activities but very few attempts made to address the effect of design practices on waste generation. However, there is a consensus in the literature that the architect has a decisive role to play in helping to reduce waste by focussing on designing out waste. This paper examines previous studies on architects' approach towards construction waste minimisation; and by means of a postal questionnaire, investigates: the origins of waste; waste minimisation design practices in the UK; and responsibilities and barriers within the UK architectural profession. The findings reveal that waste management is not a priority in the design process. Additionally, the architects seemed to take the view that waste is mainly produced during site operations and rarely generated during the design stages; however, about one-third of construction waste could essentially arise from design decisions. Results also indicate that a number of constraints, namely: lack of interest from clients; attitudes towards waste minimisation; and training all act as disincentives to a proactive and sustainable implementation of waste reduction strategies during the design process.

Calculating relaxation allowances for construction operatives - part 2: local muscle fatigue.

Local muscle fatigue usually occurs at low levels of energy output where loads are applied to a localised group of muscles. Local muscle fatigue can be either static or dynamic, depending upon the frequency of loading. Several ergonomics theories relating to local muscle fatigue are reviewed. An alternative method for determining relaxation allowances for construction work is presented.

Calculating relaxation allowances for construction operatives - part 1: metabolic cost.

Relaxation allowances are an important part of determining standard times for any task. Traditional methods of calculating relaxation allowances are reviewed and their application to construction operations are discussed. This paper is presented in two parts. Part 1 investigates various methods of determining allowances for metabolic work. Part 2 considers local muscle fatigue and describes an approach that has been developed for determining relaxation allowances for construction operations.