I thought it would be fun to tackle this problem with only the equipment that I had on hand on a typical day studying. I did this at the Tierra Coffee Shop in Coralville. I first imaged my position as I sat in the booth with my laptop (since this is the position I normally assume when studying). I analyzed the image using the freeware image analysis and editing software Gimp (to find distances of and by the law of cosines, the angles between links). I made sure to include a reference in the image to calibrate distances between pixels (a rough approximation due to the 3D nature of our world and the 2D essence of an image).
[...] According to the literature values in Table 6.2 of the text book, my max mean strength of my shoulder joint should be found according to the following equation: Shoulder extension: 204.562 - 0.099 where G is 0.4957 According to the literature, my max shoulder extension moment that I would theoretically be able to produce is: Max: 100.263 Nm By my estimation, to keep the posture that I had in the booth at the coffee shop, I am working up to of my maximum allowed shoulder moment well above the 10% threshold set by Anton. [...]
[...] I could reduce my health risk by discontinuing my use of my laptop but that cannot happen until after I finish my thesis and will likely not ever happen due to the demands placed on engineers, students and in my case (in a few years) doctors. An alternative to absolutely abstaining from the use of this equipment would be to modify it such that the equipment no longer adversely affects my health. De Kraker et. al discussed this possibility with the addition of a tactile feedback mouse which prevents “hovering” behavior, thus reducing the moment about the arm. [...]
[...] al., strenuous mental activity at a computer increases the propensity for musculoskeletal disorder Conclusions All things considered, the position that I kept while writing this exam was unhealthy and I do risk musculoskeletal problems in the future– somewhat of a surprising discovery. The moment produced about my arm was too great ( of the maximum effort of my shoulder muscle) while the repeated movements of my fingertips and extreme angles of the seating environment exacerbated the already aggravated position; these musculoskeletal considerations, coupled with the fact that I was mentally straining to complete the exam made the already bad situation worse. [...]
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