Biomechanics of stationary exercise : an option for weight management : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Children carrying excess mass have difficulty performing exercises requiring whole body movement with horizontal displacement, such as walking and running. While previous research strongly suggests that overweight children adapt their gait to accommodate for moving excess mass horizontally, very little research has investigated the biomechanical characteristics of simple exercises that focus on vertical displacement, such as stationary exercise. In addition, aquatic exercise has not been considered as an alternative solution for this population. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis was to compare the biomechanical differences between aquatic- and land-based stationary exercises in normal-weight and overweight children. Methods This thesis involved four parts; literature review, technical note, biomechanics of land- and aquatic-based stationary exercise. The literature review includes a summary about the prevalence of paediatric obesity and its related physical dysfunction, as well as the drafted literature review manuscript on biomechanical differences in exercises overground and within shallow water. It is followed by a technical note study to examine the accuracy of the camera setup by comparing the angular kinematics collected using a recreational, low-cost sports video camera (GoPro, Inc) and commercial inertial motion sensors, in both land and water environments. Following the validation study, there are two cross-sectional studies that investigate the differences in lower extremity kinematics, spatiotemporal parameters, rate of perceived exertion (RPE) and muscle activation patterns, in normal-weight and overweight children during water- and land-based stationary exercises. Results The literature review revealed that the previous aquatic biomechanical research is limited to aquatic gait in adults and elderly people. The lack of aquatic research in children is of great concern, as aquatic sports provide a low weight bearing activity that diminishes the likelihood of injuries in children and provides a solid foundation for physically activity throughout the lifespan. We demonstrated that the GoPro camera derived angular velocity measurements underwater and in air are accurate when compared to data from inertial sensors and known motion of the clock's second hand and a driven limb segment model. Thus, the accuracy of thesis protocol was established. The findings of the two cross-sectional studies demonstrated that children with excess body mass experienced significantly greater RPE and muscle activation with more extended joints during land-based stationary exercises. However, these differences diminished between groups in water with a lower RPE in overweight children and a more upright posture for both groups. Conclusions These findings suggested that children with excess body mass may adopt a more active neuromuscular strategy and a more upright posture in order to provide greater stability and propulsion during land-based stationary exercises. Higher RPE scores could indicate a greater level of difficulty and lack of enjoyment when performing stationary exercise on land. However, these differences did not exist in water. Thus, these findings support stationary exercises in water as a desirable way to reduce functional differences and subsequently promote physical activity in overweight children

Keeping profits in New Zealand

The tourism industry is the second biggest for New Zealand and is expected to regain the top spot if current, exponential growth continues. Online travel agencies (OTAs) such as those owned by Expedia Inc. and Booking Holdings Inc. facilitate this boom by encouraging travellers to visit beautiful locations, but are taking huge chunks of this income away from the local Gross-Domestic Product (GDP) in the commission they charge on every night of accommodation booked. One of the largest consumers of New Zealand’s tourism industry is Chinese nationals. This study looks at feasibility of a small player developing an app in a market full of large corporates that are dominating the playing field. The primary research used mixed methods and sought to reach 120 questionnaire respondents and 10 interview participants which uncovered thoughts on stakeholders on either side of the discussion, the China-based potential customers and the New Zealand-based accommodation providers. Preliminary results indicate that Chinese nationals are often likely to conduct thorough research when making decisions about international travel and a large portion are enthused about the prospect of regular international travel. Accommodation providers in New Zealand are rarely hesitant to support a local OTA as they are often frustrated with the poor service received from the large corporates. Developing an app that is based in China and attempts to market the New Zealand tourism industry will be a difficult proposition but is plausible with the implementation of a marketing plan that is strategically thought out

A strategy for a university cafe during holidays

With no existing strategy for a cafe business and a highly competitive market, the organisation requires a planned strategy. This research proposes to research a café to determine the best strategy for the organisation. A questionnaire will collect quantitative and qualitative data and the organisation will be observed to determine business strategies

Strategies adopted to create relative advantage

The aim of this research is to understand the strategies being currently adopted and those which can be adopted to increase operating efficiency in an organisation. The research includes the background and SWOT analysis of the organisation to better understand the business environment. The scope of the research signifies the areas that have been investigated in the research to answer the question asked in the aim. These areas include relative advantage, customer analysis and management of human resources. These areas are explained in detail in the literature review which gives useful insight into the business strategies of the organisation. After the literature review, information regarding the method adopted to conduct the research and why it is adopted is discussed. A results section shows all the information obtained and graphs prepared from conducting the surveys and interviews. These are further analysed in detail in the discussion that follows

Mars Ascent Vehicle Hybrid Propulsion Configuration

As part of a Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign, two Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) configurations have been designed in parallel. Each ascent vehicle configuration has a different propulsion system which ultimately leads to two unique vehicle designs. As part of a Preliminary Architecture Assessment (PAA), these vehicle designs were developed to the same level of maturity in order to inform the selection of one of the vehicles as the point of departure design for the campaign. The selection will be made in November 2019. The initial MSR architecture called for a hybrid-based propulsion MAV. This type of propulsion system calls for a solid wax motor that would utilize liquid MON-25 as an oxidizer. Hybrid rocket propulsion allows for more flexibility than traditional solid or liquid propulsion options, and typically benefits from the advantages of both. A hybrid motor can be throttled and shut down easily, and avoids significant risk in manufacturing and handling. On a theoretical level, hybrid motors perform at a higher specific impulse (Isp) than solid motors. The primary disadvantage of hybrid motors comes from additional complexity and significantly less flight heritage and low Technology Readiness Level (TRL). This paper describes the design of the hybrid propulsion configuration. An additional paper will be published describing the design of the solid propulsion configuration1. The hybrid propulsion configuration MAV was developed in 2019 by NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in association with NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). It features a Single Stage to Orbit (SSTO) design with an SP7A solid wax fuel and MON-25 liquid oxidizer. The liquid portion of the vehicle allows for a Liquid Injection Thrust Vector Controller (LITVC) as well as hypergolic propellant additives for ignition. The vehicle was designed to deliver approximately 0.31kg of Martian geological samples to a circular orbit at Mars of 343km at a 25o inclination. Although hybrid propulsion in general has been used on launch vehicles in the past, the integrated vehicle subsystems that operate in conjunction with these propulsion elements do not typically operate in a Martian environment, which in this application can get as cold as -40oC. The PAA advanced the maturity of these subsystems by performing detailed design and analysis on the vehicle with respect to structures and mechanisms, Guidance/Navigation/Control (GNC) systems, avionics, Reaction Control System (RCS), LITVC, thermal environments, and advanced Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This paper will summarize the results of these studies

Different Proposed Models to Mapping MDA to RUP

Reducing of the production expenses and preventing software intricacies is one of the software engineering aims. So, many method and methodology such as object-oriented, component-oriented, aspect-oriented, and service-oriented are preferred for developing software engineering. Model driven development is one of the methodologies that had considered recently and is growing rapidly .modeling the program logic and then changing model to a practicable code by some tool automatically will be the aim of the model driven development. In this paper we investigate some model driven methodology and also we’ll preferred MDA mapping to RUP.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.11591/ijece.v3i3.224