The design guidelines and new interface concept can be used for prototyping and testing enhanced EMRs.

No abstract

Service robots have been developed to assist nurses in routine patient services. Prior research has recognized that patient emotional experiences with robots may be as important as robot task performance in terms of user acceptance and assessments of effectiveness. The objective of this study was to understand the effect of different service robot interface features on elderly perceptions and emotional responses in a simulated medicine delivery task. Twenty-four participants sat in a simulated patient room and a service robot delivered a bag of "medicine" to them. Repeated trials were used to present variations on three robot features, including facial configuration, voice messaging and interactivity. Participant heart rate (HR) and galvanic skin response (GSR) were collected. Participant ratings of robot humanness [perceived anthropomorphism (PA)] were collected post-trial along with subjective ratings of arousal (bored-excited) and valence (unhappy-happy) using the self-assessment manikin (SAM) questionnaire. Results indicated the presence of all three types of robot features promoted higher PA, arousal and valence, compared to a control condition (a robot without any of the features). Participant physiological responses varied with events in their interaction with the robot. The three types of features also had different utility for stimulating participant arousal and valence, as well as physiological (GSR) and happiness (HR)] in elderly users. It is expected that results from this study could be used as a basis for developing affective robot interface design guidelines to promote user emotional experiences.

Unsupported sustained lumbar extension and supported dynamic lumbar extension postures may serve as effective and practical methods for reducing rate of SH loss and maintaining LROM. However, these postures should be further examined in various ‘doses’ to define optimal protocol for effectively minimising SH loss over time.

[Purpose] The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of low back pain and associated factors in Thai rice farmers during the rice transplanting process. [Subjects and Methods] Three hundred and forty-four farmers, aged 20–59 years old, were asked to answer a questionnaire modified from the Standard Nordic Questionnaire (Thai version). The questionnaire sought demographic, back-related, and psychosocial data. [Results] The results showed that the prevalence of low back pain was 83.1%. Farmers younger than 45 years old who worked in the field fewer than six days were more likely to experience low back pain than those who worked for at least six days. Farmers with high stress levels were more likely to have low back pain. [Conclusion] In the rice transplanting process, the low back pain experienced by the farmers was associated with the weekly work duration and stress.