Q&A our people in focus : Dr Gunther Paul

Born in Germany, Dr Paul moved to Australia in 2009 to join UniSA’s Mawson Institute. He is currently the Director of ErgoLab, a research facility dedicated to enhancing the field of ergonomics – where products are designed to better fit the people that use them. Dr Paul plays a major role in ergonomic studies from automotive design, to assistive technologies for the elderly and disabled. He currently supervises several PhD students and regularly consults to industry.

The arobase in the libr@ry : new political economies of children’s literatures and literacies

This essay--part of a special issue on the work of Gunther Kress--uses the idea of affordances and constraints to explore the (im)possibilities of new environments for engaging with literature written for children (see Kress, 2003). In particular, it examines a festival of children's literature from an Australian education context that occurs online. The festival is part of a technologically mediated library space designated by the term libr@ry (Kapitzke & Bruce, 2006). The @ symbol (French word "arobase") inserted into the word library indicates that technological mediation has a history, an established set of social practices, and a political economy, which even chatrooms with "real" authors may alter but not fully supplant.

The 3D model of l(IT)eracy and the English curriculum

The field of literacy studies has always been challenged by the changing technologies that humans have used to express, represent and communicate their feelings, ideas, understandings and knowledge. However, while the written word has remained central to literacy processes over a long period, it is generally accepted that there have been significant changes to what constitutes ‘literate’ practice. In particular, the status of the printed word has been challenged by the increasing dominance of the image, along with the multimodal meaning-making systems facilitated by digital media. For example, Gunther Kress and other members of the New London Group have argued that the second half of the twentieth century saw a significant cultural shift from the linguistic to the visual as the dominant semiotic mode. This in turn, they suggest, was accompanied by a cultural shift ‘from page to screen’ as a dominant space of representation (e.g. Cope & Kalantzis, 2000; Kress, 2003; New London Group, 1996). In a similar vein, Bill Green has noted that we have witnessed a shift from the regime of the print apparatus to a regime of the digital electronic apparatus (Lankshear, Snyder and Green, 2000). For these reasons, the field of literacy education has been challenged to find new ways to conceptualise what is meant by ‘literacy’ in the twenty first century and to rethink the conditions under which children might best be taught to be fully literate so that they can operate with agency in today’s world.

Doing new things with texts : multimodality and Mao’s Last Dancer

This paper describes a senior, multimodal task developed by Shauna O’Connor and the English staff at Brigidine College after consultation in the form of media workshops with Anita Jetnikoff. Gunther Kress (2006) suggested recently that due to the affordances of media platforms such as Web 2.0, “we need to be doing new things with texts”. The year 11 unit’s Finding a Voice parent text was the memoir, Mao’s last Dancer. The summative assessment task morphed over time from an ‘identity portrait’, into ‘a multimodal, first person narrative’.

Process mining manifesto

Process mining techniques are able to extract knowledge from event logs commonly available in today’s information systems. These techniques provide new means to discover, monitor, and improve processes in a variety of application domains. There are two main drivers for the growing interest in process mining. On the one hand, more and more events are being recorded, thus, providing detailed information about the history of processes. On the other hand, there is a need to improve and support business processes in competitive and rapidly changing environments. This manifesto is created by the IEEE Task Force on Process Mining and aims to promote the topic of process mining. Moreover, by defining a set of guiding principles and listing important challenges, this manifesto hopes to serve as a guide for software developers, scientists, consultants, business managers, and end-users. The goal is to increase the maturity of process mining as a new tool to improve the (re)design, control, and support of operational business processes.

Patterns of correlation between vehicle occupant seat pressure and anthropometry

Seat pressure is known as a major factor of seat comfort in vehicles. In passenger vehicles, there is lacking research into the seat comfort of rear seat occupants. As accurate seat pressure measurement requires significant effort, simulation of seat pressure is evolving as a preferred method. However, analytic methods are based on complex finite element modeling and therefore are time consuming and involve high investment. Based on accurate anthropometric measurements of 64 male subjects and outboard rear seat pressure measurements in three different passenger vehicles, this study investigates if a set of parameters derived from seat pressure mapping are sensitive enough to differentiate between different seats and whether they correlate with anthropometry in linear models. In addition to the pressure map analysis, H-Points were measured with a coordinate measurement system based on palpated body landmarks and the range of H-Point locations in the three seats is provided. It was found that for the cushion, cushion contact area and cushion front area/force could be modeled by subject anthropometry,while only seatback contact area could be modeled based on anthropometry for all three vehicles. Major differences were found between the vehicles for other parameters.

Effects of wearing a pressure redistribution belt while lying in a hospital bed

Bedsores (ulcers) are caused by multiple factors which include, but are not limited to; pressure, shear force, friction, temperature, age and medication. Specialised support services, such as specialised mattresses, sheepskin coverings etc., are thought to decrease or relieve pressure, resulting in a lowering of pressure ulcer incidence [3]. The primary aim of this study was to compare the upper/central body pressure distribution between normal lying in a hospital bed versus the use of a pressure redistribution belt. The study involved 16 healthy voluntary subjects lying on a hospital bed with and without wearing the belt. Results showed that the use of a pressure redistribution belt results in reduced pressure peaks and prevents the pressure from increasing over time.

How does the size and shape of local populations in China compare to general anthropometric surveys currently used for product design?

Anthropometry has long been used for a range of ergonomic applications & product design. Although products are often designed for specific cohorts, anthropometric data are typically sourced from large scale surveys representative of the general population. Additionally, few data are available for emerging markets like China and India. This study measured 80 Chinese males that were representative of a specific cohort targeted for the design of a new product. Thirteen anthropometric measurements were recorded and compared to two large databases that represented a general population, a Chinese database and a Western database. Substantial differences were identified between the Chinese males measured in this study and both databases. The subjects were substantially taller, heavier and broader than subjects in the older Chinese database. However, they were still substantially smaller, lighter and thinner than Western males. Data from current Western anthropometric surveys are unlikely to accurately represent the target population for product designers and manufacturers in emerging markets like China.

The reliability, accuracy and minimal detectable difference of a multi-segment kinematic model of the foot-shoe complex

Kinematic models are commonly used to quantify foot and ankle kinematics, yet no marker sets or models have been proven reliable or accurate when wearing shoes. Further, the minimal detectable difference of a developed model is often not reported. We present a kinematic model that is reliable, accurate and sensitive to describe the kinematics of the foot–shoe complex and lower leg during walking gait. In order to achieve this, a new marker set was established, consisting of 25 markers applied on the shoe and skin surface, which informed a four segment kinematic model of the foot–shoe complex and lower leg. Three independent experiments were conducted to determine the reliability, accuracy and minimal detectable difference of the marker set and model. Inter-rater reliability of marker placement on the shoe was proven to be good to excellent (ICC = 0.75–0.98) indicating that markers could be applied reliably between raters. Intra-rater reliability was better for the experienced rater (ICC = 0.68–0.99) than the inexperienced rater (ICC = 0.38–0.97). The accuracy of marker placement along each axis was <6.7 mm for all markers studied. Minimal detectable difference (MDD90) thresholds were defined for each joint; tibiocalcaneal joint – MDD90 = 2.17–9.36°, tarsometatarsal joint – MDD90 = 1.03–9.29° and the metatarsophalangeal joint – MDD90 = 1.75–9.12°. These thresholds proposed are specific for the description of shod motion, and can be used in future research designed at comparing between different footwear.

Effectiveness of powered hospital bed movers for reducing physiological strain and back muscle activation

Battery powered bed movers are becoming increasingly common within the hospital setting. The use of powered bed movers is believed to result in reduced physical efforts required by health care workers, which may be associated with a decreased risk of occupation related injuries. However, little work has been conducted assessing how powered bed movers impact on levels of physiological strain and muscle activation for the user. The muscular efforts associated with moving hospital beds using three different methods; manual pushing, StaminaLift Bed Mover (SBM) and Gzunda Bed Mover (GBM)were measured on six male subjects. Fourteen muscles were assessed moving a weighted hospital bed along a standardized route in an Australian hospital environment. Trunk inclination and upper spine acceleration were also quantified. Powered bed movers exhibited significantly lower muscle activation levels than manual pushing for the majority of muscles. When using the SBM, users adopted a more upright posture which was maintained while performing different tasks (e.g. turning a corner, entering a lift), while trunk inclination varied considerably for manual pushing and the GBM. The reduction in lower back muscular activation levels and the load reducing effect of a more upright posture may result in lower incidence of lower back injury.

Next generation low-cost motion capture systems can provide comparable spatial accuracy to high-end systems

The objective quantification of three-dimensional kinematics during different functional and occupational tasks is now more in demand than ever. The introduction of new generation of low-cost passive motion capture systems from a number of manufacturers has made this technology accessible for teaching, clinical practice and in small/medium industry. Despite the attractive nature of these systems, their accuracy remains unproved in independent tests. We assessed static linear accuracy, dynamic linear accuracy and compared gait kinematics from a Vicon MX20 system to a Natural Point OptiTrack system. In all experiments data were sampled simultaneously. We identified both systems perform excellently in linear accuracy tests with absolute errors not exceeding 1%. In gait data there was again strong agreement between the two systems in sagittal and coronal plane kinematics. Transverse plane kinematics differed by up to 3 at the knee and hip, which we attributed to the impact of soft tissue artifact accelerations on the data. We suggest that low-cost systems are comparably accurate to their high-end competitors and offer a platform with accuracy acceptable in research for laboratories with a limited budget.

Recommendations for the reporting of foot and ankle models

Multiple marker sets and models are currently available for assessing foot and ankle kinematics in gait. Despite the presence of such a wide variety of models, the reporting of methodological designs remains inconsistent and lacks clearly defined standards. This review highlights the variability found when reporting biomechanical model parameters, methodological design, and model reliability. Further, the review clearly demonstrates the need for a consensus of what methodological considerations to report in manuscripts, which focus on the topic of foot and ankle biomechanics. We propose five minimum reporting standards, that we believe will ensure the transparency of methods and begin to allow the community to move towards standard modelling practice. The strict adherence to these standards should ultimately improve the interpretation and clinical useability of foot and ankle marker sets and their corresponding models.

Defining standards for modelling the biomechanics of the foot and ankle : a systematic review

The complex interaction of the bones of the foot has been explored in detail in recent years, which has led to the acknowledgement in the biomechanics community that the foot can no longer be considered as a single rigid segment. With the advance of motion analysis technology it has become possible to quantify the biomechanics of simplified units or segments that make up the foot. Advances in technology coupled with reducing hardware prices has resulted in the uptake of more advanced tools available for clinical gait analysis. The increased use of these techniques in clinical practice requires defined standards for modelling and reporting of foot and ankle kinematics. This systematic review aims to provide a critical appraisal of commonly used foot and ankle marker sets designed to assess kinematics and thus provide a theoretical background for the development of modelling standards.