An examination of jump kinematics in dogs over increasing hurdle heights

Research examining kinematic parameters of the canine athlete is markedly behind equivalent human and equine research. With increasing participation and popularity, canine sports science needs to bridge this gap with comparable equine research. The aim of this study was to examine changes to specific kinematic parameters as hurdle height increases. Twenty border collies and border collie crosses were analysed jumping over a single hurdle at increasing heights, starting with a pole on the floor and increasing to a maximum height of 65cm. Length of trajectory and jump speed were analysed, alongside apparent (without the use of markers) neck, lumbar spine and shoulder angles using Dartfish software. For each dog, the percentage of the hurdle height in relation to their height at the dorsal aspect of the scapula (withers) was used to normalise the dogs evenly. Overall jump speed decreased as percentage height increased (P < 0.001), with a strong negative correlation between the two (r = -0.815). Length of trajectory significantly increased with percentage height (P < 0.001) with a strong positive correlation between the two (r = 0.740). However, length of trajectory decreased when a dog jumped ≥ 126% of its height to the withers. This is supported by a significantly more flexed apparent neck angle upon landing at this percentage height (P < 0.001). Apparent lumbar spine angles showed greater dorsal extension upon landing as percentage height increased (P < 0.001). Apparent shoulder angles become significantly more flexed as percentage height increased during the suspension phase of the jump (P < 0.001). These results suggest that dogs significantly alter their jump kinematics as hurdle height increases

Human motion analysis and simulation tools: a survey

Computational systems to identify objects represented in image sequences and tracking their motion in a fully automatic manner, enabling a detailed analysis of the involved motion and its simulation are extremely relevant in several fields of our society. In particular, the analysis and simulation of the human motion has a wide spectrum of relevant applications with a manifest social and economic impact. In fact, usage of human motion data is fundamental in a broad number of domains (e.g.: sports, rehabilitation, robotics, surveillance, gesture-based user interfaces, etc.). Consequently, many relevant engineering software applications have been developed with the purpose of analyzing and/or simulating the human motion. This chapter presents a detailed, broad and up to date survey on motion simulation and/or analysis software packages that have been developed either by the scientific community or commercial entities. Moreover, a main contribution of this chapter is an effective framework to classify and compare motion simulation and analysis tools

Identifying Determinants of Performance for Females Completing a Paramedic Physical Employment Test

Background: Sex disparities exist in employment and injury rates in the paramedic sector. Low success rates among females attempting physical employment standards could explain the elevated injury risk among female paramedics. Identifying factors that underpin successful work-related performance can inform pre-hire and return-to-work based physical training programs to address these disparities. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis was to identify the determinants of successful physical performance for females engaged in paramedic tasks. Research Question 1: Participant demographics, college type, employment status and heart rate were obtained from female participants who completed the Ottawa Paramedic Physical Abilities Test (OPPAT), a physical employment standard for paramedics. These data were used in a logistic regression model to determine which factors could predict the likelihood of successfully completing the OPPAT. Females who were actively employed, who were educated in a public paramedic college, who had higher body mass, or those who had lower BMI were more likely to successfully complete the OPPAT. Research Question 2: Lift duration and the time between peak knee and hip joint angular velocity during the Scoop and Barbell lift were compared between females who passed and failed the Ottawa Paramedic Physical Abilities Test. Four ANCOVAs were used for these comparisons where college type (public or private) and employment status (employed or unemployed) were used as categorical factors and body mass and BMI were used as covariates. No significant differences were found between passing and failing females. Discussion: Modulating demographic factors that increase the likelihood of success could lead to improved performance outcomes, but other determinants should be explored to improve the predictive ability of the current model. Future research should continue to leverage emerging technology, such as markerless motion capture and unsupervised machine learning, to identify determinants of success for females in paramedic tasks

Intelligent Sensors for Human Motion Analysis

The book, "Intelligent Sensors for Human Motion Analysis," contains 17 articles published in the Special Issue of the Sensors journal. These articles deal with many aspects related to the analysis of human movement. New techniques and methods for pose estimation, gait recognition, and fall detection have been proposed and verified. Some of them will trigger further research, and some may become the backbone of commercial systems

Evaluating footwear “in the wild”: Examining wrap and lace trail shoe closures during trail running

Trail running participation has grown over the last two decades. As a result, there have been an increasing number of studies examining the sport. Despite these increases, there is a lack of understanding regarding the effects of footwear on trail running biomechanics in ecologically valid conditions. The purpose of our study was to evaluate how a Wrap vs. Lace closure (on the same shoe) impacts running biomechanics on a trail. Thirty subjects ran a trail loop in each shoe while wearing a global positioning system (GPS) watch, heart rate monitor, inertial measurement units (IMUs), and plantar pressure insoles. The Wrap closure reduced peak foot eversion velocity (measured via IMU), which has been associated with fit. The Wrap closure also increased heel contact area, which is also associated with fit. This increase may be associated with the subjective preference for the Wrap. Lastly, runners had a small but significant increase in running speed in the Wrap shoe with no differences in heart rate nor subjective exertion. In total, the Wrap closure fit better than the Lace closure on a variety of terrain. This study demonstrates the feasibility of detecting meaningful biomechanical differences between footwear features in the wild using statistical tools and study design. Evaluating footwear in ecologically valid environments often creates additional variance in the data. This variance should not be treated as noise; instead, it is critical to capture this additional variance and challenges of ecologically valid terrain if we hope to use biomechanics to impact the development of new products

Location-based augmented reality visualization of 3D models using a mobile application – izanagiXR

Introduction: The increasing use of AR in practical applications such as education, design, manufacturing, and construction shows enormous promise for upgrading existing technology and improving quality of life. Meanwhile, the construction industry is well known for falling behind in the implementation of IT even though the digitalization is already transforming the industry across the entire lifecycle. A peculiarity in Switzerland is that in most cantons, projects still must be marked with physical metal poles called construction spans. Methodology: The aim of this research is to investigate an effective method for visualizing 3D models using location-based Augmented Reality. This paper seeks to identify the necessary steps for developing an application to accurately visualize 3D buildings using location-based AR for replacing construction spans and to find out what the benefits and challenges are. For this purpose, an AR artifact is being developed and five interviews with industry experts are being conducted to gain a better understanding of the current practice. Findings: The costs of erecting and maintaining such construction spans can amount to 0.1% or more of each construction project depending on its height and the complexity of the terrain. AR represents an enabling technology for customer engagement. It can be reasoned that by externalizing the visualization of construction projects, AR can reduce the mental effort customers need to participate in a productive discourse. AR technology has been improving dramatically and together with hybrid localization methods it is able to display information accurately and reliably in the physical world. Recommendations: In light of the findings of this research, developers, and public bodies such as municipalities alike should evaluate the use of AR applications for replacing construction spans and digitize the construction span industry to save significant investment amounts and opportunity losses. This paper recommends the above-mentioned stakeholders to explore the potential of AR applications additionally to using construction spans to gain important experience and to get an idea how their industry could look like once construction spans are not legally required anymore and AR hardware has overcome current limitations

Uncovering and leveraging the return of voluntary motor programs after paralysis using a bi-cortical neuroprosthesis

RÉSUMÉ: Rehabilitative and neuroprosthetic approaches after spinal cord injury (SCI) aim to reestablish voluntary control of movement. Promoting recovery requires a mechanistic understanding of the return of volition over action, but the relationship between re-emerging cortical commands and the return of locomotion is not well established. We introduced a neuroprosthesis delivering targeted bi-cortical stimulation in a clinically relevant contusive SCI model. In healthy and SCI cats, we controlled hindlimb locomotor output by tuning stimulation timing, duration, amplitude, and site. In intact cats, we unveiled a large repertoire of motor programs. After SCI, the evoked hindlimb lifts were highly stereotyped, yet effective in modulating gait and alleviating bilateral foot drag. Results suggest that the neural substrate underpinning motor recovery had traded-off selectivity for efficacy. Longitu- dinal tests revealed that the return of locomotion after SCI was correlated with recovery of the descending drive, which advocates for rehabilitation interventions directed at the cortical target

Analysis of the backpack loading efects on the human gait

Gait is a simple activity of daily life and one of the main abilities of the human being. Often during leisure, labour and sports activities, loads are carried over (e.g. backpack) during gait. These circumstantial loads can generate instability and increase biomechanicalstress over the human tissues and systems, especially on the locomotor, balance and postural regulation systems. According to Wearing (2006), subjects that carry a transitory or intermittent load will be able to find relatively efficient solutions to compensate its effects.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Translational Research of Audiovisual Biofeedback: An investigation of respiratory-guidance in lung and liver cancer patient radiation therapy

Through the act of breathing, thoracic and abdominal anatomy is in constant motion and is typically irregular. This irregular motion can exacerbate errors in radiation therapy, breathing guidance interventions operate to minimise these errors. However, much of the breathing guidance investigations have not directly quantified the impact of regular breathing on radiation therapy accuracy. The first aim of this thesis was to critically appraise the literature in terms of the use of breathing guidance interventions via systematic review. This review found that 21 of the 27 identified studies yielded significant improvements from the use of breathing guidance. None of the studies were randomised and no studies quantified the impact on 4DCT image quality. The second aim of this thesis was to quantify the impact of audiovisual biofeedback breathing guidance on 4DCT. This study utilised data from an MRI study to program the motion of a digital phantom prior to then simulating 4DCT imaging. Audiovisual biofeedback demonstrated to significantly improved 4DCT image quality over free breathing. The third aim of this thesis was to assess the impact of audiovisual biofeedback on liver cancer patient breathing over a course of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT). The findings of this study demonstrated the effectiveness of audiovisual biofeedback in producing consistent interfraction respiratory motion over a course of SBRT. The fourth aim of this thesis was to design and implement a phase II clinical trial investigating the use and impact of audiovisual biofeedback in lung cancer radiation therapy. The findings of a retrospective analysis were utilised to design and determine the statistics of the most comprehensive breathing guidance study to date: a randomised, stratified, multi-site, phase II clinical trial.. The fifth aim of this thesis was to explore the next stages of audiovisual biofeedback in terms of translating evidence into broader clinical use through commercialisation. This aim was achieved by investigating the the product-market fit of the audiovisual biofeedback technology. The culmination of these findings demonstrates the clinical benefit of the audiovisual biofeedback respiratory guidance system and the possibility to make breathing guidance systems more widely available to patients