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The two power limits conditioning step frequency in human running
No full text1. At high running speeds, the step frequency becomes lower than the apparent natural frequency of the body's bouncing system. This is due to a relative increase of the vertical component of the muscular push and requires a greater power to maintain the motion of the centre of gravity, Wext. However, the reduction of the step frequency leads to a decrease of the power to accelerate the limbs relatively to the centre of gravity, Wint, and, possibly, of the total power Wtot = Wext + Wint. 2. In this study we measured Wext using a force platform, Wint by motion picture analysis, and calculated Wtot during human running at six given speeds (from 5 to 21 km h-1) maintained with different step frequencies dictated by a metronome. The power was calculated by dividing the positive work done at each step by the duration of the step (step-average power) and by the duration of the positive work phase (push-average power). 3. Also in running, as in walking, a change of the step frequency at a given speed has opposite effects on Wext, which decreases with increasing step frequency, and Wint, which increases with frequency; in addition, a step frequency exists at which Wtot reaches a minimum. However, the frequency for a minimum of Wtot decreases with speed in running, whereas it increases with speed in walking. This is true for both the step-average and the push-average powers. 4. The frequency minimizing the step-average power equals the freely chosen step frequency at about 13 km h-1: it is higher at lower speeds and lower at higher speeds. The frequency minimizing the push-average power approaches the freely chosen step frequency at high speeds (around 22 km h-1 for our subjects). 5. It is concluded that the increase of the vertical push does reduce the step-average power, but that a limit is set by the increase of the push-average power. Between 13 and 22 km h-1 the freely chosen step frequency is intermediate between a frequency minimizing the step-average power, eventually limited by the maximum oxygen intake (aerobic power), and a frequency minimizing the push-average power, set free by the muscle immediately during contraction (anaerobic power). The first need prevails at the lower speed, the second at the higher speed
The 3-D motion of the centre of gravity of the human body during level walking. II. Lower limb amputees
No full textObjective. To analyse the motion of the centre of gravity (CG) of the body during gait in unilateral lower limb amputees with good kinematic patterns.
Design. Three transtibial (below-knee, BK) and four transfemoral (above-knee, AK) amputees were required to perform successive walks over a 2.4 m long force plate, at freely chosen cadence and speed.
Background. In previous studies it has been shown that in unilateral lower limb amputee gait, the motion of the CG can be more asymmetric than might be suspected from kinematic analysis.
Methods. The mechanical energy changes of the CG due to its motion in the vertical, forward and lateral direction were measured. Gait speed ranged 0.75-1.32 m s(-1) in the different subjects. This allowed calculation of (a) the positive work done by muscles to maintain the motion of the CG with respect to the ground ('external' work, W-ext) and (b) the amount of the pendulum-like, energy-saving transfer between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of the CG during each step (percent recovery, R). Step length and vertical displacement of the CG were also measured.
Results. The recorded variables were kept within the normal limits, calculated in a previous work, when an average was made of the steps performed on the prosthetic (P) and on the normal (N) limb. Asymmetries were found, however, between the P and the N step. In BK amputees, the P step R was 5% greater and W-ext was 21% lower than in the N step; in AK amputees, in the P step R was 54% greater and W-ext was 66% lower than in the N step. Asymmetries were also found in the relative magnitude of the external work provided by each lower limb during the single stance as compared with the double stance: a marked deficit of work occurred at the P to N transition
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Get PDF“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Get PDFWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Get PDFWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
The 3-D motion of the centre of gravity of the human body during level walking. I. Normal subjects at low and intermediate walking speeds
No full textObjective. To measure the mechanical energy changes of the centre of gravity (CG) of the body in the forward, lateral and vertical direction during normal level walking at intermediate and low speeds.
Design. Eight healthy adults performed successive walks at speeds ranging from 0.25 to 1.75 m s(-1) over a dedicated force platform system.
Background. In previous studies, it was shown that the motion of the CG during gait can be altered more than the motion of individual segments. However, more detailed normative data are needed for clinical analysis.
Methods. The positive work done during the step to accelerate the body CG in the forward direction, W-f, to lift it, W-v, to accelerate it in the lateral direction, W-l, and the actual work done by the muscles to maintain its motion with respect to the ground ('external' work), W-ext, were measured. This allowed the calculation of the pendulum-like transfer between gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy of the CG, (percentage recovery, R). At the optimal speed of about 1.3 m s(-1), this transfer allows saving of as much as 65% of the muscular work which would have been otherwise needed to keep the body in motion with respect to the ground. The distance covered by the CG at each step either forward (step length, S-l), or vertically (vertical displacement, S-v) was also recorded.
Results. W-l was, as a median, only 1.6-5.9% of W-ext. This ratio was higher, the lower the speed. At each step, W-ext is needed to sustain two distinct increments of the total mechanical energy of the CG, E-tot. The increment a takes place during the double stance phase; the increment b takes place during the single stance phase. Both of these increments increased with speed. Over the speed range analyzed, the power spent to to sustain the a increment was 2.8-3.9 times higher than the power spent to sustain the b increment
koamabayili/VECTRON-author-checklist: VECTRON author checklist
No full textWe have done our best to complete the author checklist relating to the use of animals in the hut study. Note that the objective for the hut study was to evaluate the IRS treatment applications for residual efficacy against Anopheles mosquitoes, including the local An. coluzzii mosquito population. Cows were only used to attract mosquitoes into the huts and no tests were carried out directly on the cows. The author checklist is intended for use with studies where experiments are carried out on animals, which is why we have had such difficulty in completing this for the hut study, as many of the questions do not relate to how the cows were used
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