The objective of this study is to investigate the three-dimensional (3D) kinematics of the functional rotation axis of the human metatarsophalangeal (MP) joint during level walking at different speeds. A 12 camera motion analysis system was used to capture the 3D motion of the foot segments and a six force plate array was employed to record the simultaneous ground reaction forces and moments. T...

When taking molds for foot orthoses, it is accepted practice to position the subtalar joint in its neutral position. However, foot orthoses have no contact with the talus, and this leads to a hypothesis that as long as there is correction available to appropriately align the forefoot relative to the hindfoot when taking a mold, changes in subtalar joint angles do not lead to significant alterat...

BACKGROUND An understanding of rear-foot (talocrural and subtalar joints) kinematics is critical for diagnosing foot pathologies, designing total ankle implants, treating rear-foot injuries and quantifying gait abnormalities. The majority of kinematic data available have been acquired through static cadaver work or passive in vivo studies. The applicability of these data to dynamic in vivo situ...

OBJECTIVE To examine the effects of keyswitch orientation on joint torques. BACKGROUND The fingertip produces primarily vertical forces during single-finger tapping on a computer keyswitch. However, horizontal force components within the sagittal plane of the finger could reduce net joint torques. METHOD Eleven participants tapped on a keyswitch oriented in three directions: vertical, tilte...

This paper presents a novel inverse kinematics solution for robotic arm based on artificial neural network (ANN) architecture. The motion of robotic arm is controlled by the kinematics of ANN. A new artificial neural network approach for inverse kinematics is proposed. The novelty of the proposed ANN is the inclusion of the feedback of current joint angles configuration of robotic arm as well a...

A method for gait analysis using wearable acceleration sensors and gyro sensors is proposed in this work. The volunteers wore sensor units that included a tri-axis acceleration sensor and three single axis gyro sensors. The angular velocity data measured by the gyro sensors were used to estimate the translational acceleration in the gait analysis. The translational acceleration was then subtrac...

BACKGROUND Sex differences may exist in cognitive faculties and neuromuscular strategies for maintaining joint stability. The purpose of this study was to assess whether preparatory and reactive knee stiffening strategies are affected differently in males and females exposed to sex-biased cognitive loads. METHODS 20 male and 20 female volunteers were tested for knee joint stiffness and quadri...

A directed dominating set in a directed graph D is a set S of vertices of V such that every vertex u ∈ V (D) \ S has an adjacent vertex v in S with v directed to u. The directed domination number of D, denoted by γ(D), is the minimum cardinality of a directed dominating set in D. The directed domination number of a graph G, denoted Γd(G), which is the maximum directed domination number γ(D) ove...

The aim of this study was to develop insight into the transference of kinematic landing strategies between back- ward rotating dismount skills. Female gymnasts performed backward rotating pike (N = 4 x 10 trials) and tuck dismounts skills (N = 4 x 10 trials) from the beam apparatus. Whole and lower body joint kinematic measures were quantified for the impact phase using an automatic motion anal...