Anticipatory weight shift between arms when reaching from a crouched posture

Author(s):  
Rosemary Gallagher ◽  
Stephaine Perez ◽  
Derek DeLuca ◽  
Isaac L. Kurtzer

Reaching movements performed from a crouched body posture require a shift of body weight from both arms to one arm. This situation has remained unexamined despite the analogous load requirements during step initiation and the many studies of reaching from a seated or standing posture. To determine whether the body weight shift involves anticipatory or exclusively reactive control we obtained force plate records, hand kinematics, and arm muscle activity from 11 healthy right-handed participants. They performed reaching movements with their left and right arm in two speed contexts - 'comfortable' and 'as fast as possible' - and two postural contexts - a less stable knees-together posture and more stable knees-apart posture. Weight-shifts involved anticipatory postural actions (APA) by the reaching and stance arms that were opposing in the vertical axis and aligned in the side-to-side axis similar to APAs by the legs for step initiation. Weight-shift APAs were correlated in time and magnitude, present in both speed contexts, more vigorous with the knees placed together, and similar when reaching with the dominant or non-dominant arm. The initial weight-shift was preceded by bursts of muscle activity in the shoulder and elbow extensors (posterior deltoid and triceps lateral) of the reach arm and shoulder flexor (pectoralis major) of the stance arm which indicates their causal role; leg muscles may have indirectly contributed but were not recorded. The strong functional similarity of weight-shift APAs during crouched reaching to human stepping and cats reaching suggests that they are a core feature of posture-movement coordination.

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 205566831983570 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shea McMurtry ◽  
Goeran Fiedler

Introduction: Artificial turf, soon after being introduced in the 1980s, became associated with an increased injury incidence in football players. While more recent generations of artificial turf have mitigated the problem, perception of the material is still widely negative. So, the decision to play the 2015 Fe'de'ration Internationale de Football Association Women s World Cup in Canada on artificial turf was met with vocal criticism by many players. One common approach is to assess injury incidence to quantify risk differences in playing surfaces. This, however, does not account for possible confounding variables or chronic injuries. Direct measurement of ground reaction forces is difficult because conventional multicamera-based motion capture and force plate equipment are limited in its use outside of dedicated laboratories. Methods: We describe a method of generating realistic force data by using miniature load cells that are installed directly into the weight-bearing structure of the body. Results: Pilot data show a significant (p<0.01) difference in peak forces on artificial turf (272% of body weight) and natural grass (229% of body weight). Discussion: Invasive surgical procedures were avoided by installing the load cell into the prosthesis of an athlete with lower limb loss. As modern prosthetic devices allow a close approximation of able-bodied kinematics and kinetics, such prosthesis-based data are transferable to a general population.


The question of the blood volume in man and animals has for more than 70 years been the subject of numerous investigations. This is but natural, considering its great practical and theoretical importance in the study of diseases and their treatment. Although so much work has been done upon this subject, it is remarkable to see the great differences of opinion expressed by the many observers as to the amount of blood contained by various animals: thus we may give, as examples, the ratio of blood weight to body weight in the following animals:—


1975 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 174-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. A. Cavagna

Walking and running on the level involves external mechanical work, even when speed averaged over a complete stride remains constant. This work must be performed by the muscles to accelerate and/or raise the center of mass of the body during parts of the stride, replacing energy which is lost as the body slows and/or falls during other parts of the stride. External work can be measured with fair approximation by means of a force plate, which records the horizontal and vertical components of the resultant force applied by the body to the ground over a complete stride. The horizontal force and the vertical force minus the body weight are integrated electronically to determine the instantaneous velocity in each plane. These velocities are squared and multiplied by one-half the mass to yield the instantaneous kinetic energy. The change in potential energy is calculated by integrating vertical velocity as a function of time to yield vertical displacement and multiplying this by body weight. The total mechanical energy as a function of time is obtained by adding the instantaneous kinetic and potential energies. The positive external mechanical work is obtained by adding the increments in total mechanical energy over an integral number of strides.


2000 ◽  
Vol 203 (4) ◽  
pp. 725-739 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.D. Earls

The mechanics of avian take-off are central to hypotheses about flight evolution, but have not been quantified in terms of whole-body movements for any species. In this study, I use a combination of high-speed video analysis and force plate recording to measure the kinematics and mechanics of ground take-off in the European starling Sturnis vulgaris and the European migratory quail Coturnix coturnix. Counter to hypotheses based on the habits and morphology of each species, S. vulgaris and C. coturnix both produce 80–90 % of the velocity of take-off with the hindlimbs. S. vulgaris performs a countermovement jump (peak vertical force four times body weight) followed by wing movement, while C. coturnix performs a squat jump (peak vertical force 7.8 times body weight) with simultaneous wing movement. The wings, while necessary for continuing the movement initiated by the hindlimbs and thereafter supporting the body weight, are not the primary take-off accelerator. Comparison with one other avian species in which take-off kinematics have been recorded (Columba livia) suggests that this could be a common pattern for living birds. Given these data and the fact that running take-offs such as those suggested for an evolving proto-flier are limited to large or highly specialized living taxa, a jumping model of take-off is proposed as a more logical starting point for the evolution of avian powered flight.


Author(s):  
Tyler M. Saumur ◽  
Sunita Mathur ◽  
Jacqueline Nestico ◽  
Stephen D. Perry ◽  
George Mochizuki ◽  
...  

AbstractBackgroundCharacterizing reactive stepping is important to describe the response’s effectiveness. Measures of reactive stepping related to step initiation, execution, and termination phases have been frequently reported to characterize reactive balance control. However, the test-retest reliability of these measures are unknown.Research questionsWhat is the between- and within-session test-retest reliability of various force plate-derived measures of reactive stepping?MethodsNineteen young, healthy adults responded to 6 small (~8-10% of body weight) and 6 large perturbations (~13-15% of body weight) using an anterior lean-and-release system. Tests were conducted on two visits separated by at least two days. Participants were instructed to recover balance in as few steps as possible. Step onset, foot-off, swing, and restabilization times were extracted from force plates. Relative test-retest reliability was determined through intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Absolute test-retest reliability was assessed using the standard error of the measurement (SEM).ResultsFoot-off and swing times had the highest between- and within-session test-retest reliabilities regardless of perturbation size (between-session ICC=0.898–0.942; within-session ICC=0.455–0.753). Conversely, step onset and restabilization time had lower ICCs and wider CIs (between-session ICC=0.495–0.825; within-session ICC=−0.040–0.174). Between-session test-retest reliability was higher (ICC=0.495-0.942) for all measures than within-session test-retest reliability (ICC=−0.040–0.753). SEMs were low (3–10% of mean) for all measures, except time to restabilization (SEM=15-20% of mean), indicating good absolute reliability.SignificanceThese findings suggest multiple baseline sessions are needed for measuring restabilization and step onset times. The SEMs provide an index for measuring meaningful change due to an intervention.


2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Spurrett

Abstract Comprehensive accounts of resource-rational attempts to maximise utility shouldn't ignore the demands of constructing utility representations. This can be onerous when, as in humans, there are many rewarding modalities. Another thing best not ignored is the processing demands of making functional activity out of the many degrees of freedom of a body. The target article is almost silent on both.


2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 5-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eun Y. Jung ◽  
Sung C. Jun ◽  
Un J. Chang ◽  
Hyung J. Suh

Previously, we have found that the addition of L-ascorbic acid to chitosan enhanced the reduction in body weight gain in guinea pigs fed a high-fat diet. We hypothesized that the addition of L-ascorbic acid to chitosan would accelerate the reduction of body weight in humans, similar to the animal model. Overweight subjects administered chitosan with or without L-ascorbic acid for 8 weeks, were assigned to three groups: Control group (N = 26, placebo, vehicle only), Chito group (N = 27, 3 g/day chitosan), and Chito-vita group (N = 27, 3 g/day chitosan plus 2 g/day L-ascorbic acid). The body weights and body mass index (BMI) of the Chito and Chito-vita groups decreased significantly (p < 0.05) compared to the Control group. The BMI of the Chito-vita group decreased significantly compared to the Chito group (Chito: -1.0 kg/m2 vs. Chito-vita: -1.6 kg/m2, p < 0.05). The results showed that the chitosan enhanced reduction of body weight and BMI was accentuated by the addition of L-ascorbic acid. The fat mass, percentage body fat, body circumference, and skinfold thickness in the Chito and Chito-vita groups decreased more than the Control group; however, these parameters were not significantly different between the three groups. Chitosan combined with L-ascorbic acid may be useful for controlling body weight.


2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (6) ◽  
pp. 271-276

Introduction: Prevalence of obesity is 30 % in the Czech Republic and is expected to increase further in the future. This disease complicates surgical procedures but also the postoperative period. The aim of our paper is to present the surgical technique called hand-assisted laparoscopic nephrectomy (HALS), used in surgical management of kidney cancer in morbid obese patients with BMI >40 kg/m2. Methods: The basic cohort of seven patients with BMI >40 undergoing HALS nephrectomy was retrospectively evaluated. Demographic data were analyzed (age, gender, body weight, height, BMI and comorbidities). The perioperative course (surgery time, blood loss, ICU time, hospital stay and early complications), tumor characteristics (histology, TNM classification, tumor size, removed kidney size) and postoperative follow-up were evaluated. Results: The patient age was 38−67 years; the cohort included 2 females and 5 males, the body weight was 117−155 kg and the BMI was 40.3−501 kg/m2. Surgery time was 73−98 minutes, blood loss was 20−450 ml, and hospital stay was 5−7 days; incisional hernia occurred in one patient. Kidney cancer was confirmed in all cases, 48–110 mm in diameter, and the largest removed specimen size was 210×140×130 mm. One patient died just 9 months after the surgery because of metastatic disease; the tumor-free period in the other patients currently varies between 1 and 5 years. Conclusion: HALS nephrectomy seems to be a suitable and safe surgical technique in complicated patients like these morbid obese patients. HALS nephrectomy provides acceptable surgical and oncological results.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document