BIOMECHANICS OF THE PENALTY STROKE IN ROLLER HOCKEY

This paper describes a preliminary study on the biomechanics of the shot in roller hockey. This is a Portuguese sport having a most extensive prize list, where Portugal has been 15 times world champion, 20 European champions in senior male competition and won three world championships in senior female. Despite this impressive collection of titles, hockey continues to be the lesser studied sport, concretely regarding studies on biomechanics. The influence of sports equipment in the athlete’s performance and a detailed analysis of the main technical gestures had not motivated yet the researchers for detailed studies to enable their optimization. The purpose of this study was to characterize the mechanical properties of the stick (Aleu) and its influence on the shot power

Stress and deformation in tubular metallic parts of auto seats

In order to assess the structural and material behaviour in particular the deformation and failure in lightweight metallic tubular structural parts of auto seats a pseudo-dynamic procedure was devised. The deformation of circular section tubes subjected to centred transversal force is assessed by rugometric and microtopographic optical inspection.(undefined

Combined sticking: a new approach for finite-amplitude Coulomb frictional contact

Engineering-level accuracy of discretization methods for frictional contact originates from precise representation of discontinuous frictional and normal interaction laws and precise discrete contact techniques. In terms of discontinuous behavior in the quasi-static case, two themes are of concern: the normal interaction (i.e. impact) and the jumps in tangential directions arising from high frictional values. In terms of normal behavior, we use a smoothed complementarity relation. For the tangential behavior, we propose a simple and effective algorithm, which is based a stick predictor followed by corrections to the tangential velocity. This allows problems with impact and stick-slip behavior to be solved with an implicit code based on Newton–Raphson iterations. Three worked examples are shown with comparisons with published results. An extension to node-to-face form in 3D is also presented

An alternative formulation for quasi-static frictional and cohesive contact problems

It is known by Engineering practitioners that quasi-static contact problems with friction and cohesive laws often present convergence difficulties in Newton iteration. These are commonly attributed to the non-smoothness of the equilibrium system. However, non-uniqueness of solutions is often an obstacle for convergence. We discuss these condi- tions in detail and present a general algorithm for 3D which is shown to have quadratic convergence in the Newton–Raphson iteration even for parts of the domain where multiple solutions exist. Chen–Mangasarian replacement functions remove the non-smoothness corresponding to both the stick- slip and normal complementarity conditions. Contrasting with Augmented Lagrangian methods, second-order updat- ing is performed for all degrees-of-freedom. Stick condi- tion is automatically selected by the algorithm for regions with multiple solutions. The resulting Jacobian determinant is independent of the friction coefficient, at the expense of an increased number of nodal degrees-of-freedom. Aspects such as a dedicated pivoting for constrained problems are also of crucial importance for a successful solution finding. The resulting 3D mixed formulation, with 7 degrees-of-freedom in each node (displacement components, friction multiplier, friction force components and normal force) is tested with representative numerical examples (both contact with fric- tion and cohesive force), which show remarkable robustness and generality

Characterisation of microbial attack on archaeological bone

As part of an EU funded project to investigate the factors influencing bone preservation in the archaeological record, more than 250 bones from 41 archaeological sites in five countries spanning four climatic regions were studied for diagenetic alteration. Sites were selected to cover a range of environmental conditions and archaeological contexts. Microscopic and physical (mercury intrusion porosimetry) analyses of these bones revealed that the majority (68%) had suffered microbial attack. Furthermore, significant differences were found between animal and human bone in both the state of preservation and the type of microbial attack present. These differences in preservation might result from differences in early taphonomy of the bones. © 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved

Evaluation of a quality improvement intervention to reduce anastomotic leak following right colectomy (EAGLE): pragmatic, batched stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized trial in 64 countries

Background Anastomotic leak affects 8 per cent of patients after right colectomy with a 10-fold increased risk of postoperative death. The EAGLE study aimed to develop and test whether an international, standardized quality improvement intervention could reduce anastomotic leaks. Methods The internationally intended protocol, iteratively co-developed by a multistage Delphi process, comprised an online educational module introducing risk stratification, an intraoperative checklist, and harmonized surgical techniques. Clusters (hospital teams) were randomized to one of three arms with varied sequences of intervention/data collection by a derived stepped-wedge batch design (at least 18 hospital teams per batch). Patients were blinded to the study allocation. Low- and middle-income country enrolment was encouraged. The primary outcome (assessed by intention to treat) was anastomotic leak rate, and subgroup analyses by module completion (at least 80 per cent of surgeons, high engagement; less than 50 per cent, low engagement) were preplanned. Results A total 355 hospital teams registered, with 332 from 64 countries (39.2 per cent low and middle income) included in the final analysis. The online modules were completed by half of the surgeons (2143 of 4411). The primary analysis included 3039 of the 3268 patients recruited (206 patients had no anastomosis and 23 were lost to follow-up), with anastomotic leaks arising before and after the intervention in 10.1 and 9.6 per cent respectively (adjusted OR 0.87, 95 per cent c.i. 0.59 to 1.30; P = 0.498). The proportion of surgeons completing the educational modules was an influence: the leak rate decreased from 12.2 per cent (61 of 500) before intervention to 5.1 per cent (24 of 473) after intervention in high-engagement centres (adjusted OR 0.36, 0.20 to 0.64; P < 0.001), but this was not observed in low-engagement hospitals (8.3 per cent (59 of 714) and 13.8 per cent (61 of 443) respectively; adjusted OR 2.09, 1.31 to 3.31). Conclusion Completion of globally available digital training by engaged teams can alter anastomotic leak rates. Registration number: NCT04270721 (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov)