The Effects of Locomotion-Induced Shock Loading on Tibiofemoral Bone Stress Response

Purpose/Hypothesis: Knee osteoarthritis (Coats, Zioupos, & Aspden) is a degenerative joint disease that negatively impacts the quality of life. About 9.3 million people in the U.S. population are affected. It has been suggested via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies that bone marrow edema (i.e., indicative of bone stress response) and joint structure changes may be the main contributing factors of pain in OA. Frontal plane lower extremity (LE) alignment has been a topic of much interest regarding development of OA in the knee joint. It is hypothesized that varus alignment increases forces through the medial compartment of the knee, thereby leading to bone stress response and initiation of OA. The purpose was to investigate the effects of locomotion-induced shock loading and LE alignment on tibiofemoral bone stress response in older adults without knee OA. Number of Subjects: Five male and five female subjects with no medical diagnosis of knee OA (57.9 ± 3.9 years; 84.2 ± 12.7 kg; 1.7 ± 0.1 m) participated. Materials/Methods: Each subject underwent a clinical biomechanical testing session and an MRI assessment session. During the clinical biomechanical testing, static LE alignment was obtained by measuring the angle between the long axes of femur and tibia. Dynamic LE alignment, in particular the peak frontal plane LE angle during loading response of fast walking, was obtained using a 3-dimensional motion capturing system. During the MRI assessment session, a chemical-shift-encoded water-fat MRI protocol was applied to the dominant knee. MRI data was obtained before fast walking and immediately following a 30-minute fast walking session. Bone stress response was determined by quantifying the bone water content within the weight-bearing regions of iii the medial and lateral compartments. Paired t-tests were used to compare bone water content before and after fast walking. Pearson correlation coefficient analyses were used to determine the associations between LE alignment and changes in water content after fast walking. Results: The paired t-tests revealed no change in water content after fast walking within medial femur (p = 0.671), lateral femur (p =0.174), medial tibia (p = 0.461), and lateral tibia (p = 0.190). Pearson correlation coefficient analyses revealed a significant moderate correlation between increased bone water content of the medial femur and increased static varus alignment (R = 0.688, p =0.027). Additionally, a trend with moderate correlation was observed between increased bone water content of the medial tibia and increased static varus alignment (R = 0.437, p = 0.206). No association was found between changes in bone water content and dynamic alignment (p \u3c 0.05). Conclusions: This is the first study assessing the acute effects of locomotion on bone stress response in older adults without knee OA. Although there was no significant change in bone water content post locomotion, a greater varus alignment was associated with increased water content in the medial compartment. Clinical Relevance: Our findings provide further understanding of the contribution of LE alignment and development of OA. This research can impact the early detection, prevention, and interventions for individuals at risk for joint deformity and knee OA

PRINSIP-PRINSIP PENEGAKAN HUKUM TERHADAP PENANGKAPAN, PENAHANAN, DAN PENGGELEDAHAN DALAM HUKUM ACARA PIDANA

Tujuan dilakukannya penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui bagaimana penerapan prinsip-prinsip penegakan hukum oleh pejabat yang berwenang melakukan penangkapan penahanan dan penggeledahan dalam KUHAP dan bagaimana prosedur penangkapan, penahanan dan penggeledahan dalam Kitab Undang-Undang Hukum Acara Pidana di mana dengan metode penelitian hukum normatif disimpulkan: 1. Penangkapan dan penahanan di satu sisi merupakan kewenangan yang diberikan oleh undang-undang berdasarkan prinsip legalitas kepada penyidik, penyelidik atas perintah penyidik, penuntut umum maupun hakim, namun di sisi lain ia bersinggungan dengan perampasan kemerdekaan tersangka dan terdakwa. Adanya cukup bukti yang menjadi dasar penangkapan dan alasan-alasan subjektif maupun alasan objektif yang menjadi dasar dilakukannya penahanan rentan melanggar hak asasi manusia tersangka atau terdakwa. Oleh karena itu, aparat penegak hukum dituntut tidak hanya mengacu kepada prinsip legalitas sebagai dasar hukum penangkapan dan penahanan, tapi juga prinsip nesesitas dan prinsip proporsionalitas. 2. Penerapan prinsip bagi pejabat yang diberikan kewenangan oleh undang-undang. Jika penangkapan dan penahanan melanggar prinsip nesesitas, prinsip proporsionalitas secara otomatis juga terlanggar. Prinsip nesesitas mengacu kepada penggunaan kekuatan harus merupakan tindakan yang luar biasa, dalam arti jika masih ada alternatif lain selain menangkap dan menahan tersangka atau tersangka, maka alternatif tersebut wajib dilakukan. Prinsip proporsionalitas menitikberatkan kepada adanya kebutuhan untuk menyeimbangkan antara pembatasan hak dengan tujuan yang hendak dicapai. Hak di sini adalah hak atas kemerdekaan tersangka dan terdakwa. Sedangkan tujuan yang hendak dicapai adalah mengumpulkan alat bukti dan mempermudah proses pemeriksaan peradilan yang berimplikasi pada pencarian kebenaran materiil.Kata kunci: penangkapan; penahanan; penggeledahan

Iterative Learning Control for Milling with Industrial Robots in Advanced Manufacturing

The demand of today for advanced manufactured parts with high precision is due to the increasing complexity of technologies. The parts are typically made by CNC (Computer Numerical Control) machines, which are expensive and comparably big. By using industrial robots that are significantly cheaper, reduced costs can be achieved, which is particularly beneficial for small and medium enterprises. Robots are, however, less stiff and strong and are less accurate compared to the CNC machines. In this thesis, the idea was that by designing a controller, this could be compensated for so that the robot could perform machining with high precision. The research made in this thesis was part of the EU co-funded research project COMET. The robot task was to repeatedly mill parts with improved results. Iterative Learning Control (ILC) was therefore chosen as a suitable control strategy for this task. It uses the position error from previous iterations and adds it to the control signal to converge the output to successful results. Results showed that when using ILC for tracking paths, the position error could be reduced with approximately 11-20% in x, y, and z directions after one iteration

Freckled Darter (Percina lenticula) And Other Fishes’ Usage Of Wood Pile Habitat

Effectively sampling habitat with the proper techniques is essential for our understanding of the animals that use the habitat, both for individual species and entire species assemblages. Percina lenticula is a species of special concern in the state of Mississippi due to low numbers of historical records. This species is known to inhabit wood pile habitat in rivers, a habitat that has been under-sampled historically due to inefficiency with most commonly used gear. Seines are typically not effective at sampling wood piles, resulting in sampling bias underestimating the number of P. lenticula and potentially other species utilizing such habitats. This study used electrofishing techniques to sample wood piles near historical records of P. lenticula in the Pascagoula and Pearl River drainages to assess the status of the species and environmental predictors and species associations. We assessed wood pile size and complexity for differences in fish abundance, species diversity and evenness. We also assessed differences in overall fish species assemblages in these habitats due to variations in environmental factors, both in each wood pile and at the sites. We caught 21 P. lenticula, all from the Pascagoula drainage. We found Etheostoma histrio and Percina sciera to be positively associated with P. lenticula. Neither wood pile size nor complexity significantly influenced fish abundance, species diversity or evenness. We found water depth and velocity to drive species assemblage variation in the woody structure, and site size to drive assemblage variation of the sites

Humanitarian accountability: a conceptual analysis

Drawing on the public accountability literature, mainly using Bovens’ concepts of accountability as mechanism and accountability as a virtue, this paper reviews existing strategies for conceptualisation and operationalisation of accountability in the humanitarian sector and compares their advantages and shortcomings. Humanitarian work takes place in contexts that are characterised by inherent power imbalances between donors, humanitarian organisations, local communities and affected populations. In this context, humanitarian organisations have a multitude of accountability relationships, some of them are formal – for example, through contracts with donors – while others are legal and political obligations. Others are informal, such as those with affected populations who do not have any formal power to hold these organisations accountable. Efforts from humanitarian organisations to become more accountable have to date mainly focused on accountability virtue, a normative concept that defines accountable behaviour, and the sector has developed a multitude of voluntary standards and business inspired frameworks. However, less attention has been paid to accountability as a mechanism, which requires organisations to explain and justify their conduct to a forum and face judgement. It appears that donors are the only existing forum to which humanitarian organisations do have to give an account and be answerable for their acts and performance. The author argues that a mix of these approaches (virtue and mechanism) could improve accountability in the humanitarian sector. However, the success of such an approach to humanitarian accountability will essentially depend on how far both donors and humanitarian organisations are willing to let go of power and control

Risk Factors Associated with Sexual Assault among Asian Immigrant Women in Massage Parlors

Over the past decade, Asian immigrant women have had an increasing presence in the massage parlor industry. Despite that, little is known about the risk to women in these settings. Previous research has addressed health and physical risk factors, yet there are no specific studies on risk factors for sexual assault among Asian immigrant females who engage in sexual services in massage parlors. Thus, this study aims to examine the prevalence and risk factors for sexual assault against Asian immigrant women in massage parlors. Using existing interview data to examine the relationship between these factors and sexual assault (Chin et al., Manuscript being prepared for publication), four demographic/social/occupational factors were analyzed: —1) Korean versus Chinese; 2) type of sexual service provided in massage parlors; 3) amount of time women living in the United States; 4) coercion from owner/management. The result showed that coercion experience from the massage parlor owner or management and length of residence in the United States were predictive of sexual assault. The result highlights the need for awareness of sexual assault risk factors in Asian immigrant women in massage parlors