Adjustments in the Range of Angular Motion during Walking after Amputation of the Toes: A Case Report

The forefoot plays an important role in providing body support and propulsion during walking. We investigated the effect of forefoot dysfunction on the gait pattern of a young adult with partial bilateral amputation of the toes. We measured our participant’s gait kinematics during barefoot and shod overground walking and analysed time-distance and joint range of motion (RoM) parameters against a group of healthy adults. Forefoot dysfunction gait is improved by footwear and walking experience; however, this improvement was still remarkably different (exceeded 95% CI) when compared to healthy gait at matching walking speed. Compared to healthy gait, walking barefoot had a slower speed and a 30% reduction in ankle and knee joint RoM, but a larger hip RoM. Shod gait resulted in a remarkable increase in ankle RoM and walking speed compared to barefoot gait. These results are consistent with the important role of the forefoot (tarsals and metatarsophalangeal joints) and suggest that footwear can facilitate gait function following toe amputation.

Influence of Contact Positioning of Pivot Support on Machining Vibration

The authors have studied support mechanisms for the machining of thin-walled workpieces. Previous studies have shown that the newly proposed pivot support has a vibration suppression effect on flat plate workpieces. This report clarifies the guideline for determining the placement interval for deploying this support on a cylindrical workpiece. Also, a machining test was conducted to compare the damping effect of pivot support with that of conventional rigid body support. As a result, it was found that the pivot support has an equivalent vibration suppression effect as the conventional support has. By using the proposed support, installation can be simplified while maintaining the damping effect.

Orthoses in Conservative Management of Cerebral Palsy and Rehabilitation

Cerebral palsy is the developmental and postural disorder that combines a group of conditions/disease (neuromuscular), occurs in the developing fetal or infant brain, affects movement and intelligence that are ascribed to non-progressive disturbances. Orthotics is the branch of modern health science and rehabilitation that deals with assessment, prescription, fabrication, fitment, and purposeful gait training to the individual who needs orthosis for optimal independence. Orthoses are external devices that applied to increase function, prevent contracture and deformity, maintain the limbs in a functional position, stabilize the segments of the body, support the weak muscle and its functions, increase motor control, reduce spasticity, protect the limbs, and body segments in the postoperative condition.

The Spatiotemporal Characteristics of Coupling Effect between Roof and Backfill Body in Dense Backfill Mining

Backfill mining has become an important part of coal mine green mining technology. In this paper, the spatiotemporal characteristics of coupling effect between the roof and dense backfill body were analyzed by theoretical analysis and similar simulation test, and Xingtai Mine in China was taken as an engineering case for verification. The results show that the larger subsidence of the roof is, the stronger the supporting capacity of the backfill body is, and the interaction between the two is more obvious, thus showing a coupling effect. This coupling effect presents a regular variation with the increase of backfill distance and time, that is, the coupling degree of roof and backfill body is high in the middle of goaf and low in the vicinity of the coal pillar in spatial distribution, and the coupling behavior of roof and backfill body continues to occur slowly with time. Through the monitoring of stress and displacement in the engineering site and the analysis of borehole observation results, the spatiotemporal coupling effect between roof subsidence and backfill support is fully verified. The research results are of great significance to the control of surrounding rock in backfill mining, the study of the mechanical aging characteristics of backfilling materials, and the optimization of backfill body support performance.

Plac Czerwony jako technologia oporu w rosyjskiej sztuce protestu

Red Square is a symbolic place for the Moscow dissidence protests. Russian artists, writers and dissidents have frequently used the history of the square’s memory as a crucial and fundamental issue within the framework of their strategy. Haunting images associated with Red Square’s past, permanently returning in the history of the Russian activism, always refer both to universal narratives of the politics of protest and to the specific contexts producing entirely new meanings. Each time, through their public actions artists create new meanings for the Red Square’s space – they expose the existing limits of the power apparatus and call for the right to legitimize it, therefore contesting the links between the theatre of legitimacy and the public space. From this perspective, the space of protest becomes a fundamental instrument of political action, and the square - ordinarily used in the established order to manifest the government’s symbolic authority - this time becomes a kind of technique as well as a material body support in the politics of resistance.