Achilles tendon rupture prevention in physical activity and sports: predisposition factors

Objective: to summarize all clinically significant factors determining the Achilles tendon predisposition to rupture.Materials and methods: the basis of this scientific-analytical review was the analysis of data from the electronic portals PubMed-NCBI, Google Academy, and “Scientific electronic e-Library.ru”.Results: the presented literature review indicates that injuries and ruptures of the Achilles tendon can be provoked by numerous factors, among which genetic predisposition, individual anatomico-morphological features of the tendon complex structure, initial connective tissue failure, pathological changes in the Achilles tendon structure itself, foot and ankle deformities are of great importance. Men are more susceptible to this injury. Tendon injuries are most common either in 30–40 years, or in the period from 60 to 80 years. Professional athletes and people who lead sedentary lifestyles and do not exercise properly are at risk of Achilles tendon ruptures. Concomitant metabolic disorders and use of some medications also play an important role in the predisposition to this injury. Local corticosteroid injections pose a particular tendon rupture risk. The combination of several established factors significantly increases the likelihood of this emergency.Conclusions: early detection of predisposition to Achilles tendon rupture will allow timely development of effective measures for its prevention in physical training and sports

TO THE QUESTION OF OPTIMISING THE DYNAMIC CHARACTERISTICS OF A VIBRATIONAL TREE UPROOTING MACHINE

Objectives Following logging operations, tree stumps remain in the site of the former forest.While these may be uprooted by special machines in the course of forestry operations, the use of heavy forestry machines operated repeatedly on the forest sites not only lead to soil erosion, but also to considerable financial expense. Consequently, the development of machines combining cutting (logging) and uprooting operations – that is, uprooting the trees along with their roots – are of a great interest. As research has shown, the main disadvantages of the use of such technology by “conventional” logging or forestry machines are their excessive loading and energy intensity. The aim of the research is to investigate means of eliminating these drawbacks by using vibration.Methods The article deals with theproblem of ensuring the effectiveness of the vibration application – in particular, torsional vibrations, used to stub trees together with their roots. To solve this problem, a mathematical model of the “machine-tree-soil-root system” system was developed, which takes into account the mutual influence of the dynamic characteristics of the machine’s technological equipment and tree and soil-root system, which allows a rational (optimal) frequency range of vibration equipment to be selected by analysing the amplitude-frequency characteristics of a given system. To analyse the amplitude-frequency characteristics of a mechanical system, the Euler-Lagrange equationswere used.Results Based on the mathematical model of the “machine-tree-soil-root system (SRS)” system and an analysis of the amplitude-frequency characteristics of a given system, a rational range of vibration frequencies was determined. As shown by analysis, the work of vibrational equipment in a given frequency range can significantly reduce the dynamic loading of the machine and at the same time create appropriate conditions for the effective destruction of the soil-root system.Conclusion The proposed method allows the rational values of the frequency characteristic of vibration equipment for each calculated tree to be found depending on the soil type and the basic machine