Kinematic and Kinetic Analyses of E-TPU Material in Bowling Footwear

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of midsole construction (barefoot, traditional bowling shoes with minimalist midsole design, and the modified bowling shoes with E TPU midsole design) on the amount of shock absorption and the mechanics of bowling delivery. All shoes underwent static testing on top of a force platform. The static test involved dropping a 0.5 kg dumbbell inside a PVC pipe from a height of 0.61 meters onto the heel cup region in each type of shoe. Twelve healthy, college, right-handed recreational males participated in dynamic testing of bowling delivery. Data collection took place at the Biomechanics Laboratory. Participants stood five meters away from cushioning mate and performed a four-step approach to roll the bowling ball on top of a mat. A Casio high speed camera was set up to capture the right sagittal view of bowling ball delivery at 120 Hz in conjunction with a 650 watts spotlight. Every participant was asked to bowl five balls in each type of footwear, so a total of 15 bowls were collected for each participant. A total of 180 trials were collected in this study. Force plate data were recorded at 1000 Hz with Vicon Nexus software to evaluate the amount of shock and force absorption. Ariel Performance Analysis System (APAS) software was used to measure the 2D body kinematic joint angles and velocities of hip, knee, and ankle, stride length, and linear ball velocity. For the static testing, a t-test was conducted to compare the amount of vertical ground reaction force between the traditional bowling footwear with minimalist midsole design and the modified bowling footwear with E-TPU midsole design. For the dynamic testing, a one-way repeated measure ANOVA for the initial peak vertical force (Fz), the rate of loading, and peak vertical ground reaction force to body weight ratio were compared between three different footwear conditions. A one-way repeated ANOVA (α = 0.05) for the joint angles and velocities of hip, knee, and ankle, stride length, and linear ball velocity were compared between three different footwear conditions. Post hoc pairwise comparisons were conducted using t-test with Bonferroni adjustment if a statistical significance was found. The kinetic results indicate that the bowling footwear with the E-TPU material provided lower amount of initial peak vertical ground reaction force and rate of loading, which may potentially be beneficial to bowlers to minimize lower v extremity injury. However, there was no significant difference found in the peak vertical ground reaction force with respect to each participant’s body weight. The findings of this study provide a preliminary understanding on the effects of the E-TPU material on shock absorption in bowling footwear. The kinematic results indicate that no significant difference was found in the lower extremity for the joint angles and velocities of hip, knee, and ankle, stride length, and linear ball velocity. The findings of this study could help practitioners understand that bowling footwear does not alter mechanics of bowling delivery and also provide further understanding on the effect of footwear cushioning on athletic performance. Sports footwear developers may use this information to construct appropriate footwear to minimize injury. Future studies are warranted to evaluate 3D motion analysis with experienced bowlers at the bowling alley and the internal joint forces and torques of bowling delivery mechanics with the E-TPU material footwear

THE EFFECTS OF MIDSOLE CONSTRUCTION ON BOWLING DELIVERY

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of midsole construction on the mechanics of bowling delivery. Twelve participants performed five candle bowling ball deliveries in three footwear conditions (barefoot, traditional and modified with E-TPU). Both kinematic and kinetic analyses were conducted. The results of the barefoot condition showed hip, knee and ankle joints at 92.3 ± 9.9°, 133.0 ± 14.5°, and 111.6 ± 11.2°, respectively, which were not significantly different from the modified condition of 93.9 ± 9.9° (p =.289) 132.1 ± 14.5° (p =.758), and 117.7 ± 9.4° (p =.123). Also, no significant difference was found in peak vertical force to body weight ratio. These findings provide a preliminary understanding on the effects of footwear on bowling delivery. Future studies are warranted to evaluate 3D motion analysis with experienced bowlers at the bowling alley

KINETIC ANALYSES OF E-TPU MATERIAL IN BOWLING FOOTWEAR

The purpose of this study was to examine the vertical ground reaction force between the traditional bowling shoes made of rubber midsole and the modified bowling shoes made of E-TPU midsole. All shoes underwent both static and dynamic performance testing on a force platform. The preliminary results indicated that the bowling footwear with the E-TPU material provided lower amount of vertical ground reaction force in both static and dynamic testing, which may potentially be beneficial to bowlers to minimize lower extremity injury. Future studies are warranted to evaluate the internal joint forces of bowling delivery mechanics with the E-TPU material footwear

THE EFFECTS OF FATIGUE ON SOFTBALL PITCHER FROM PITCHING MULTIPLE GAMES

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of fatigue on softball pitching from pitching back to back games. Players were asked to throw 15 balls in each inning for seven innings and for a total of two games. The results showed fastball’s velocity in the first inning of the first game (25.4 ± 2.5 m/s) had significantly decreased after a game and a half (24.3 ± 2.7 m/s; p = 0.00). Hence, this study suggests that the pitchers started to show signs of fatigue after this amount of pitches (165 pitches), so softball coaches may take this into consideration and make necessary pitching change. Given the established relationship between fatigue and injury in pitchers, the Amateur Softball Association may use this information to implement a pitch count to protect softball pitchers from overuse injur

A Large Panel Two-CCD Camera Coordinate System with an Alternate-Eight-Matrix Look-Up Table Algorithm

AbstractIn this study, a novel positioning model of a double-CCD cameras calibration system, with an Alternate-Eight-Matrix (AEM) Look-Up-Table (LUT), was proposed. Two CCD cameras were fixed on both sides of a large scale screen to redeem Field Of View (FOV) problems. The first to the fourth AEMLUT were used to compute the corresponding positions of intermediate blocks on the screen captured by the right side camera. In these AEMLUT for the right side camera, the coordinate mapping data of the target in a specific space were stored in two matrixes, while the gray level threshold values of different position were stored in the others. Similarly, the fifth to the eighth AEMLUT were used to compute the corresponding positions of intermediate blocks on the screen captured by the left side camera. Experimental results showed that the problems of dead angles and non-uniform light fields were solved. In addition, rapid and precision positioning results can be obtained by the proposed method

Critical Success Factors of Alignment between Websites and OCAs in the Manufacturing Industry

In this study, a list containing twelve organizational critical activities (OCAs) of manufacturing industry is found out by the interviews with executives and revision of two experts. The analysis on secondary data and the deeper interviews are carried out to obtain the critical success factors of the alignment between websites and OCAs in the manufacturing industry. Six common critical success factors of the three companies are: Support of Executives, Excellent and Professional Team, Full Communication, Harmonic Website Build Process, Technical Support, and Complete Information System Architecture. Finally, this study hopes that companies in the manufacturing industry can improve the competitiveness according to the result of this study

Successful treatment of methemoglobinemia in an elderly couple with severe cyanosis: two case reports

INTRODUCTION: Methemoglobinemia should be considered in all cyanotic patients who remain unresponsive to oxygen therapy. Rapid diagnosis is very important in emergency cases. Here, we present the cases of two patients, a married couple, admitted to our hospital with methemoglobinemia after exposure to sodium nitrite. CASE PRESENTATION: Two patients, a married couple, presented with methemoglobinemia. The 72-year-old Taiwanese man and 68-year-old Taiwanese woman were referred to our hospital with dizziness and tachypnea. On examination, their mucous membranes were cyanotic, and their blood samples showed the classic ‘chocolate brown’ appearance. The man also reported having experienced twitching of his right arm for a few minutes before arrival at the hospital. The symptoms of both patients failed to improve in response to supplemental oxygen delivered via oxygen masks, although the arterial blood gas data of these patients were normal and their pulse oximetry showed oxyhemoglobin levels of approximately 85%. A carbon monoxide-oximeter showed that the man’s methemoglobin concentration was 48.3%, and the woman’s was 36.4%. Methylene blue (100mg) was administered intravenously to both patients, and their symptoms improved dramatically. They were admitted to the intensive care unit and discharged three days later, without neurological sequelae. CONCLUSION: Severe methemoglobinemia is a life-threatening condition and, if untreated, may result in death. Early diagnosis and appropriate antidotal treatment are crucial in treating this emergency situation