Factors Of Activities Research Articles

국내 거주 외국인의 개인적 범죄예방 활동에 미치는 영향요인 연구

The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the influencing factors of individual crime prevention activities for foreigners residing in Korea to maintain a safe life. In order for foreigners residing in Korea to live in a safe environment, various crime prevention activities are carried out, and there are various factors affecting these activities. This study comprehensively considers these influencing factors to understand the individual crime prevention activities of foreigners residing in Korea. To this end, the Korea Criminal and Legal Policy Institute analyzed the data collected and utilized in the 'foreigner-dense area environment survey' conducted on foreigners living in foreign-dense areas nationwide in August 2019 to derive major factors affecting the personal crime prevention activities of foreigners living in Korea. Based on statistical data and analysis results obtained through research results, factors affecting foreigners' crime prevention activities were identified and explained.
 This study is expected to contribute to the development and implementation of crime prevention policies for foreigners in the government and local communities. Furthermore, it is expected to help promote mutual understanding between foreigners and communities residing in Korea and establish a foundation for multicultural coexistence.

Unveiling poaching patterns and threat sources for informed conservation in southeast Angola

Poaching poses a significant threat to wildlife and ecosystems in southeast Angola, yet comprehensive studies to inform effective conservation strategies have been lacking. This novel study systematically assesses the spatial distribution and influencing factors of poaching activities in the region. Utilizing data from extensive patrolling efforts and predictive modeling, the hotspots and risk zones for wire-snares, gin traps, elephant poaching, and poaching camps are delineated. Our findings reveal distinctive socio-political and geo-ecological patterns governing each type of illegal activity. Wire-snares and gin traps display clear socio-political correlates, with proximity to towns and villages influencing their prevalence. These findings advocate for strategic placement of patrol stations and underscore the need for expanded law enforcement efforts to mitigate these threats. Conversely, elephant poaching for ivory exhibits transboundary influences, with heightened risk zones along international borders. This highlights the urgency of collaborative, transboundary management strategies to counteract external drivers of elephant poaching. Geo-ecologically, closed habitats dominated by woody vegetation, such as shrublands and closed woodlands, are favored for wire-snares and gin traps, likely due to reduced detection risk. Riparian habitats emerge as high-risk areas for elephant poaching and fishing camps, highlighting their importance for targeted conservation interventions. The fine-scale spatial analysis guides resource allocation and law enforcement strategies, while the identification of distinct threat sources informs proactive measures. To curb local demand-driven poaching, community-based conservation and alternative livelihood initiatives are recommended.

Long-term organic fertilization reshapes the communities of bacteria and fungi and enhances the activities of C- and P-cycling enzymes in calcareous alluvial soil

Soil microbial communities and extracellular enzymes are pivotal in governing the dynamics of soil carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) cycling. Nevertheless, comprehending the underlying regulatory factors and intricate interactions among these vital indicators remains an inadequately explored aspect, especially within the scenario of long-term fertilization. Long-term fertilization experiments were conducted on calcareous alluvial soil. The five fertilization regimes selected were as follows: without fertilization treatment (CK); inorganic NK fertilization treatment (NK); inorganic NPK fertilization treatment (NPK); organic fertilization treatment (M); and combined inorganic NPK with organic fertilization treatment (NPKM). The soil physicochemical properties, β-glucosidase (BG), and alkaline phosphomonoesterase (ALP) activities were determined, together with microbial (bacterial and fungal) community DNA sequences and subsequent bioinformatics analysis after 38 years of different fertilization. The results showed that the content of soil organic carbon (SOC) and available P and the activities of BG and ALP were the highest after M and NPKM treatments, which were 79–104 %, 26–36 times, 161–171 %, and 75–91 % higher than CK, respectively. Hierarchical clustering analysis showed that the bacterial and fungal community structures in M and NPKM treatments were similar, but the community structures in non-organic fertilization treatments (CK, NK, and NPK) were significantly different from those in organic fertilization treatments. The indicator species and correlation analysis combined revealed that most indicator species in organic fertilizer treatments were significantly positively correlated with soil BG and ALP, while most indicator species in non-organic fertilizer (CK and NK) treatments were significantly negatively correlated with soil BG and ALP. Organic fertilization treatments favored the growth of the bacterial genus Lysobacter and the fungal genera Acremonium and Mortierella and were significantly positively correlated with BG and ALP activities. Redundancy analysis revealed that SOC is the most important factor in shaping microbial community structure. Co-occurrence network analysis showed organic fertilization had higher network complexity, more keystone taxa, and more associations among microbial taxa compared with non-organic fertilization (CK + NK). Structural equation models revealed that microbial community structure is the direct driving factor of BG and ALP activities and their interactions, and SOC modulated the relationship between microbial community structure and BG and ALP activities. This study highlights how the application of organic fertilizer enhanced the C- and P-cycling enzyme activities, reshaped the soil microbial communities, and regulated these crucial indicators and their interactions by SOC.

The role of investment in innovative hrpolicy under globalization

In the article, were discussed the issues of personnel, human capital, innovation, personnel management processes, investments in a market economy, and the role of investments in innovative personnel policy. Also, considerations were given on the evolution of the concept of human resources management. At the same time, it has been determined that human capital will be one of the most important factors in future activities, as envisaged by SOCAR’s mission. Based on the world experience, the possibility that the role of human resources for companies has undergone certain changes has been investigated, as an example of the main causes behind these changes, the trends like increasing preference for efficiency and comprehensive skills due to the abundance of resources, the impact of achievements gained from digitalization and innovative technologies on the traditional work process and skills, immigration and demographic changes were identified, as a result of which, role of human capital within the company and new trends in resources requirement have been defined and a number of recommendations have been given.

Brønsted ionic liquids as catalysts for synthesis of 2-pyrazoline derivatives from ketazines: A combined experimental and theoretical approach

Brønsted ionic liquids (BILs) were designed and applied to catalyze intramolecular cyclization of ketazines to 2-pyrazoline derivatives. Under the optimal conditions as 90 °C, 15 mol% [PsBim][CF3SO3] dosage and 4 h, the conversion rate and selectivity of the reaction are up to 98 % and 99 % respectively. Through the substrate screening, it shows that the steric hindrance of the R group in ketazines is a big factor of cyclization activities, following the order of methyl (98 %) > ethyl (93 %) > n-propyl (87 %) > n‑butyl (81 %) > isopropyl (52 %) > isobutyl (46 %)> neobutyl (13 %). Moreover, the results of the density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate that the cations and anions of BIL can synergistically participate in the ketazines configuration transformation step so as to significantly reduce the Gibbs free barrier energy from 30.65 to 20.12 kcal/mol, thereby promoting the cyclization reaction to synthesize 2-pyrazoline derivatives.

Implementation of Indah Mayang Embroidery in Pariaman City to Increase Sales of the Creative Fashion Industry

The creative economy is a new era of economic concepts that prioritizes information and creativity and relies on human resources' ideas as the primary production factor in economic activities. Pariaman City's traditional embroidered cloth business is one of the creative industries of the fashion sub-sector. The Embroidery Naras fabric business in Kota Pariaman has seen a drastic decrease in sales turnover since the Covid-19 pandemic, so entrepreneurs are looking for alternative solutions to increase their sales again. This research aims to find solutions to the problems faced by embroidered fabric craftsmanship, specifically how to increase sales volume after the covid-19 pandemic by advancing the creative embroidered fashion industry through the role of increasing production, creativity, and innovation. There are two types of data used: primary data and secondary data. Data collection, data reduction, data presentation, and conclusions are the data analysis techniques used in this study. According to the findings, increasing production played only a 33% role. This demonstrates that craftsmen play a smaller role in increasing production to 100%. While the criteria for increasing creativity reaches 70%, it demonstrates that it plays an important role in increasing sales volume. It reaches 15% for the global marketing criteria, indicating that it does not play a role in global marketing, and it reaches only 3% for the use of technology, indicating that it does not play a role in the production process. Similarly, increasing revenue by 33%, As a result, it plays a smaller role in increasing revenue through direct and online sales.

Designing Interactive Multimedia-Based Learning Media Using Augmented Reality in Basic Computer and Networking Subjects Computer and Basic Networking for School Expertise Package Vocational High School

Learning infrastructure is one of the supporting factors for vocational high school learning activities for the Computer and Informatics Engineering expertise program. Less effective learning media used by teachers as well as understanding and activeness of students in the learning process of this research background. The main objective of this research is to design and implement interactive multimedia based on Augmented reality with Auditory, Intellectually, and Repetition (AIR) learning models to determine the cognitive enhancement of students in learning network topology on basic computer and network subjects. Augmented reality-based interactive multimedia uses a comprehensive life cycle development model (SHM) and the research method used is quantitative with a sample of class X (ten) Multimedia students of SMK Negeri 1 Cipatat. From this research, the results obtained: (1) interactive multimedia is good and suitable for use. Obtained media value of 82% and material of 90.74% which is very well interpreted by media experts and subject teachers. (2) Interactive multimedia can improve students' cognitive with the acquisition of an average value of 0.697 with criteria that have "medium" criteria. (3) the students responded to the interactive multimedia learning media based on Augmented Reality, which was quite good, with a value of 80.24% and included in the “very good” category.

The spatiotemporal pattern of grassland NPP in Inner Mongolia was more sensitive to moisture and human activities than that in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau

The Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) and the Inner Mongolia Plateau (IMP) are important ecological barriers in China, and their grassland ecosystems are extremely fragile. Recently, the grassland ecosystems in both regions have been at risk of degradation owing to climate change combined with anthropogenic disturbance. However, comparative studies on how the driving factors of natural and human activities affect grassland spatiotemporal patterns on the QTP and IMP have been limited. Therefore, net primary productivity (NPP) was chosen as an indicator to understand its spatiotemporal patterns and driving mechanisms in this study. The spatiotemporal variation and spatial autocorrelation of NPP in the QTP and IMP grasslands NPP from 2000 to 2018 were analyzed. The partial least squares structural equation model and geographical time-weighted regression model were used to develop a research framework to explore the influence of natural factors, human activities and their interactions on the grassland NPP of the QTP and the IMP. Overall, the results showed that the spatiotemporal variations in grassland NPP of the QTP and IMP increased, with localized degradation from 2000 to 2018, with a faster NPP recovery in the IMP grassland NPP than in the QTP grassland NPP. Both the QTP and IMP showed high degrees of spatial autocorrelation. The driving factors explained 78.2 % and 80.6 % of the QTP and IMP grassland NPP, respectively. Moisture was the dominant driver but had a greater impact on the IMP than on the QTP. Among the human activity factors, atmospheric acid deposition had a negative influence on the QTP grassland and a positive impact on the IMP grassland. Socioeconomic activities presented stronger direct negative impact on IMP grassland. The indirect effects of human factors on the QTP through terrain and climate were greater. The grassland NPP exhibited significant spatiotemporal heterogeneity in response to the main driving factors of the QTP and IMP. This study explores the divergent mechanisms driven by natural and anthropogenic attributes of grassland NPP and provides information to scientifically guide the restoration of grassland ecosystems.

The Impact of Anthropogenic Activities and Natural Factors on the Grassland over the Agro-Pastoral Ecotone of Inner Mongolia

The agro-pastoral ecotone serves as an important ecological transition zone between grassland and cropland. It plays a crucial role in providing forage and maintaining the ecological security of Northern China. China has initiated many ecological restoration projects in the agro-pastoral ecotone. Separating the affecting factors of anthropogenic activities and natural factors change on grassland may help guide future ecological restoration projects. This study investigated the grassland change over the agro-pastoral ecotone in Inner Mongolia (APEI) using land use data, vegetation index, and monthly climate data, social and economic data from 2010 to 2020. Two indicators were introduced to evaluate the grassland change in quality and quantity. The average annual maximum NDVI of grassland within each sample was used as a proxy for grassland quality, and the proportion of grassland within each sample was used as a proxy for grassland quantity. The driving mechanisms of grassland quality were examined on different types of grassland. The results showed that (1) from 2010 to 2020, the quantity of grassland in APEI slightly decreased while the quality of the grassland significantly improved; (2) the change in grassland quality was jointly caused by natural factors and human activities, with 66.77% being attributed to natural factors and 33.23% to human activities. In some areas, the alteration in grassland quality was solely determined by either the impacts of natural factors or human-induced disturbances; and (3) temperature and precipitation played different roles in affecting grassland quality among different types of grassland. In some areas, anthropogenic activities, such as farmland and population, would affect grassland quality. The findings of this study would contribute to the understanding of the mechanism of ecological environmental changes in the agro-pastoral ecotone and guide the planning and implementation of future ecological restoration projects in agro-pastoral areas.

Improvement of Health and Morphofunctional Status of Law Enforcement Officers of Older Age Groups during the Organized Motor Activities.

With age, there is a tendency for the health of law enforcement officers to deteriorate. This especially applies to instructor officers, whose professional activity is characterized by a significant decrease in the volume of motor activity, overloading of the intellectual sphere, and high neuro-emotional stress. The aim of the research is to investigate the influence of recreational and health-promoting training sessions with physical exercise on the health, physical development, and functional status of instructor officers of older age groups. 62 instructor officers (aged 40-45) of various academic disciplines took part in the research. The instructors of the experimental group (EG, n = 30) were engaged in physical exercises in accordance with the authors' program of recreational and health-promoting training sessions; the instructors of the control group (CG, n = 32) attended the training sessions according to the existing physical training program. It was found that at the end of the experiment, the studied indicators of the EG instructor officers were significantly better than those of the CG ones, according to the indicators of body weight, Quetelet index, the vital capacity of lungs, vital index, strength index, heart rate, arterial blood pressure, Robinson index, and level of physical health. It was established that systematic recreational and health-promoting training sessions have a positive effect on the health level of the instructor officers of older age groups. This will allow them to carry out instructional activities at a high professional level and ensure resistance to adverse factors of professional activities.

Understanding the role of ceremonial activities in fostering organizational identification in Chinese university libraries

This study investigated the relationship between Ceremonial Activities and Organizational Identification among librarians in a university library and the associated influencing factors in China. Data were gathered through interviews, and 30 librarians in Chinese university libraries were selected as participants for in-depth interviews to identify the role of ceremonial activities and the organizational identification of university libraries. The study findings contribute to a conceptual framework for understanding the relationship between ceremonial activities and organizational identification among librarians in a university library and reveal three main factors of ceremonial activities that influenced librarians' organizational identification of Chinese University Libraries: Symbols of ceremonial activities–self-identification, landscape of ceremonial activities–Library Identification, Procedure of ceremonial activities–Value Identification. These results provide valuable insights for research on the management of ceremonial library activities.

Analisis Based Social Entreprenuership Pada Pondok Pesantren Al Fusha Pekalongan

This study aims to determine the implementation of social entrepreneurship at the Al Fusha Integrated Islamic Boarding School. This study uses a qualitative-descriptive method, with interviews, observations, and literature review as instruments. The results of the study indicate that entrepreneurial activities at the Al Fusha Integrated Islamic Boarding School are a model of social entrepreneurship. The benchmark of social entrepreneurship in Al Fusha can be seen through the process of social entrepreneurship which includes antecedents, entrepreneurial orientation, and outcomes. The antecedents stage begins with formulating a social mission, namely educating students and spreading benefits for the community. The mission is based on social problems which are then used as a business opportunity. Second, entrepreneurial orientation, Al Fusha Islamic boarding school in developing its business creates social innovation and risk taking so that the business can continue to grow to achieve the goals it wants to achieve. The last stage is the outcome, the social value created has an impact on students and also the community. There are supporting and inhibiting factors for social entrepreneurship activities that come from external and internal sources.

Landscape ecological risk of China's nature reserves declined over the past 30 years

Nature reserves are not isolated. They exist in the context of broader landscape mosaics, and the landscape surroundings of a reserve may contain a threat to the biodiversity within them. However, research on landscape ecological risk and driving factors of China's nature reserves are limited. Based on the Landscape Ecological Risk Index we estimated the landscape ecological risk to 668 of China's nature reserves across levels, climatic zones, and ecosystem type from 1990 to 2020, at five-year intervals. We also explored how the driving factors of human activities and climate affected the spatial heterogeneity and temporal change of landscape ecological risk in China's nature reserves. Our results showed that overall the landscape ecological risk to China's nature reserves has decreased over the past three decades, with the most pronounced decline between 1990 and 2000. The landscape ecological risk of coastline nature reserves has increased, however, while the landscape ecological risk to other ecosystem types has decreased. Climate is the dominant factor driving spatial heterogeneity of landscape ecological risk in China's nature reserves, with a contribution rate of 78.01%. Temporal change of landscape ecological risk in China's nature reserves is primarily impacted by human activities in 84.96% of China's nature reserves. Only 2.40% of China's nature reserves were at a higher landscape ecological risk in 2020. Our study reveals spatial heterogeneity and temporal change of landscape ecological risk in China's nature reserves, highlighting landscape ecological risk assessments of nature reserves should consider the restrictive effect of climate background. The decline in human activity will improve the landscape ecological risk of the nature reserve. This study provides scientific guidance for the sustainable development of China's nature reserve system.

The Impact of the Quality of Logistics Services in E-Commerce on the Satisfaction and Loyalty of Generation Z Customers

With the boom in e-commerce activities in Vietnam, the market size is expected to reach USD 52 billion by 2025, showing that e-commerce is a highly potential market. This also means that the level of competition between businesses is extremely fierce, so it requires optimization in each activity, especially e-logistics, to ensure smoothness, accuracy, and safety in distributing goods to consumers. Therefore, this study focuses on determining which factors of e-logistics activities affect the satisfaction and loyalty of Generation Z customers and their influence. The team collected opinions from 510 customers who had purchased goods through an e-commerce platform and then analyzed them using Smart-PLS3. The results show that delivery time is the most critical factor determining customer satisfaction, while the availability of goods is the factor that contributes the most to the loyalty of Generation Z customers. In the context of e-commerce development in Vietnam, the research has contributed to business enterprises’ scale of e-logistics service quality and assessed the importance of each factor so that enterprises can base on that to evaluate their service quality and improve satisfaction, loyalty to customers, and competitiveness.

PENGARUH GAJI DAN INSENTIF TERHADAP KINERJA KARYAWAN DENGAN KEPUASAN KERJA SEBAGAI VARIABEL INTERVENING PADA UD. DNL KECAMATAN BANYUPUTIH KABUPATEN SITUBONDO

Human resources are a strategic factor in all organizational activities because human resources are the primary support for implementing organizational goals. This study aimed to determine the effect of salary and incentives on performance with job satisfaction as an intervening variable at UD. DNL Banyuputih District, Situbondo Regency. The population in this study were all employees of UD. DNL Banyuputih District, Situbondo Regency, totaling 40 people. The sampling technique used in this study was a saturated sample. This study's data analysis and hypothesis testing used Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM).
 The results of direct influence hypothesis testing using the Smart PLS 3.0 application show that salary has an insignificant effect and impacts job satisfaction. Incentives have a significant effect and have an impact on Job Satisfaction. Salary has an insignificant effect and has an impact on performance. Incentives have an insignificant effect and have an impact on performance. Job satisfaction has a significant effect and has an impact on performance. Salary has a positive but insignificant effect on Employee Performance through Job Satisfaction. Incentives have a positive and significant effect on Employee Performance through Job Satisfaction.

Susceptibility assessment of soil-water hazard chain on a small catchment in gully region of Loess Plateau: Implications for artificially-induced mountaintop removal filling valley and geoheritage

Soil-water hazards are the most common hazards in Loess Plateau, China, and they can impart devastating effects on living environments of human beings, land planning, and geoheritage sites. A typical study area was selected to elucidate the relationship between soil-water hazards chain susceptibility and human activities, geoheritage sites. Landslide and gully erosion susceptibility was obtained by using gradient boosting and support vector machines, and then, hazard matrix was carried out to couple landslide and gully erosion susceptibility. Ultimately, the high susceptibility classes of landslides and gully erosion was selected as the material source of soil-water hazards chain. Meanwhile, Flow-R software was applied to acquire soil-water hazards chain susceptibility. Thereafter, different magnification times of soil-water hazards chain was quantified under different scenarios. Fourteen conditioning factors were considered in different susceptibility mapping after a collinearity test. The medium-high susceptibility of landslide, gully erosion, coupling soil-water hazards, soil-water hazards chain accounted for 41.40 %, 46.96 %, 49.11 %, and 51.14 % of the entire area, respectively. The proportion of magnification times were a trend of decreasing from first scenarios to third scenarios when the soil-water hazards magnification times was <5, however, there was a trend of increasing that of different scenarios when the magnification times was >5. Moreover, a series of geomorphological factors and human activities factors were highly important for the occurrence of geohazards, especially in artificially-induced mountaintop removal filling valley obviously amplified the harm of soil-water hazards. In addition, many geoheritage sites were distributed in medium-high susceptibility areas for different soil-water hazards, and their proportion exceeded 40 %. This study provides a novel and useful paradigm for the relationship between human activities and soil-water hazards can attain an optimal state, and a harmonious balance can be established between human beings and nature.

Optimization of sports effect evaluation technology from random forest algorithm and elastic network algorithm.

This study leverages advanced data mining and machine learning techniques to delve deeper into the impact of sports activities on physical health and provide a scientific foundation for informed sports selection and health promotion. Guided by the Elastic Net algorithm, a sports performance assessment model is meticulously constructed. In contrast to the conventional Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (Lasso) algorithm, this model seeks to elucidate the factors influencing physical health indicators due to sports activities. Additionally, the incorporation of the Random Forest algorithm facilitates a comprehensive evaluation of sports performance across distinct dimensions: wrestling-type sports, soccer-type sports, skill-based sports, and school physical education. Employing the Top-K criterion for evaluation and juxtaposing it with the high-performance Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm, the accuracy is scrutinized under three distinct criteria: Top-3, Top-5, and Top-10. The pivotal innovation of this study resides in the amalgamation of the Elastic Net and Random Forest algorithms, permitting a holistic contemplation of the influencing factors of diverse sports activities on physical health indicators. Through this integrated methodology, the research achieves a more precise assessment of the effects of sports activities, unveiling a range of impacts various sports have on physical health. Consequently, a more refined assessment tool for sports performance detection and health development is established. Capitalizing on the Elastic Net algorithm, this research optimizes model construction during the pivotal feature selection phase, effectively capturing the crucial influencing factors associated with different sports activities. Concurrently, the integration of the Random Forest algorithm augments the predictive prowess of the model, enabling the sports performance assessment model to comprehensively unveil the extent of impact stemming from various sports activities. This study stands as a noteworthy contribution to the arena of sports performance assessment, offering substantial insights and advancements to both sports health and research methodologies.

A Systematic Review of Ergonomics Risk Assessment Methods for Pushing and Pulling Activities at Workplace

It is vital to assess workplace pushing and pulling (PP) activities to manage musculoskeletal injuries among employees. However, there is still no clearly-suited risk assessment method. This systematic review aims to provide an overview of risk assessment methods for PP activities at the workplace. Thus, the review employed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA). Two primary journal databases were searched, namely Scopus and Science Direct. Furthermore, to ensure the robustness of the study, the searches were expended via handpicking, snowball identification, and consultation with ergonomics experts. Atlas.ti version 8 software was used to analyse the identified articles thematically. The search resulted in nine articles eligible for the systematic analysis. From the articles, six assessment methods used force measurement as the main indicators, while three assessment methods used the weight of the load as measurement indicators. The assessment tools did not cover all the risk factors for PP activities. Besides, there was a lack of evidence showing the assessment tools or methods' reliability, validity, and usability. This systematic review highlighted the advantages and limitations of existing assessment methods, and no one method fits all. The findings showed that the assessment methods for PP activities still needed a force measurement and did not cover all the significant risk factors associated with PP. In addition, no clarifications were presented regarding the assessment methods’ reliability, validity, and applicability.

The Socio-educational Theory of the “Invisible Hand”

The Socio-educational Theory of the “Invisible Hand” is the result of the research using constructivist grounded theory strategy. The socio-educational factors of recreational activities carried out in regional open youth centres/spaces were investigated. The study has included young people with fewer opportunities (YPFO) aged 16–20 and the youth workers. The study started in January and ended on September 2021. In the research data analysis, the recurring word “invisible” was noted, bringing up the image of the “invisible hand”. The metaphor of the “invisible hand” was used to visualize, understand and explain the process of social education through recreation. The constructed grounded theory – the Socio-educational Theory of the “Invisible Hand”, was linked to the economical theory of the Invisible Hand described by the economist A. Smith (1776). It has been revealed that it is a process consisting of visible and invisible sub-processes running simultaneously. The invisible one is not direct or pre-planned. It is a process that can be accidental or conscious, spontaneous or purposeful.

Biomechanical investigation of tasks concerning manual materials handling using response surface methodology

In typical manual material handling, the variations in walking pattern are decided by various factors, such as load being handled, frequency of handling, walking surface, etc. Traditional gait analysis protocols commonly evaluate individual factor within specified ranges associated with particular activities or pathologies. However, existing literature underscores the concurrent impact of multiple factors on gait. This study identifies five pivotal factors—walking speed, surface slope, load carried, carrying method, and footwear—as contributors to gait alterations. To address risk factors in manual material handling activities, we propose a unique design-of-experiment-based approach for multi-task gait analysis. Unraveling the relationship between manual handling attributes and human gait holds paramount importance in formulating effective intervention strategies. We optimized the five input factors across a cohort of 15 healthy male participants by employing a face-centered central composite design experimentation. A total of 29 input factor combinations were tested, yielding a comprehensive dataset encompassing 18 kinematic gait parameters (such as cadence, step length etc., measured using inertial measurement system), the isolated impacts of factors, and the interplay of two-factor interactions with corresponding responses. The results illuminate the optimal scenarios of input factors that enhance individual gait performance—these include wearing appropriate footwear, employing a backpack for load carriage, and maintaining a moderate walking pace on a medium slope with minimal load. The study identifies walking speed and load magnitude as primary influencers of gait mechanics, followed by the chosen carrying method. In consequence, the insights gained advocate for the refinement of manual material handling tasks based on the outcomes, effectively mitigating the risk of musculoskeletal disorders by suggesting the interventions for posture correction.