Many digital human models provide the crucial method to calculate postures in virtual environments. Traditionally these methods refer to experiments and make use of statistical modeling. They provide sufficient results in their specialized domain, but cannot be used in general applications. In addition they do not consider important design aspects as forces and discomfort. Hence a new force bas...

On land, the spatial magnitude of postural sway (i.e., the amount of sway) tends to be greater when participants look at the horizon than when they look at nearby targets. By contrast, on ships at sea, the spatial magnitude of postural sway in young adults has been greater when looking at nearby targets and less when looking at the horizon. Healthy aging is associated with changes in the moveme...

A new study reveals the action of a rapid process by which our perceptual systems adapt to improve the localization of touches when our limbs are in novel postures.

OBJECTIVE The relation between prenatal cocaine exposure and quality of movement was studied at 4 mo using the Posture and Fine Motor Assessment of Infants (PFMAI-I). METHOD Posture and fine motor scores of 4-month-old infants exposed to cocaine in utero (n = 370) were compared with an unexposed group (n = 533) within the context of gestational age, medical and demographic characteristics, an...

The goal of this paper is to present the advantages on the use of 3D Digital Human Models (DHM) on the design of public transport vehicles. In this case, the subjects were scanned using the WBX Cyberware 3D Whole Body Scanner, with functional and daily postures according to the use of public transportation and some especial cases, such as a mother with her offspring or a business man with his v...

Postural destabilizations in response to cyclic pull-and-push arm movements were compared in young and elderly subjects, with the goal of determining how age-related differences in postural stability influence strategies of cyclic arm movements made at different speeds, against different loads and while standing on support surfaces of different compliances. The results show that elderly subject...

OBJECTIVE To present the pitiable working conditions of clinical waste pickers in hospitals in the Northwest region of Cameroon and associated exposure to health hazards. METHODS Observe clinical waste pickers as they carry out their functions for three days and carry out informal consultations (discussion) with the waste pickers on their working conditions, possible health risks and avenues ...

We explore the capacity for music in terms of five questions: (1) What cognitive structures are invoked by music? (2) What are the principles that create these structures? (3) How do listeners acquire these principles? (4) What pre-existing resources make such acquisition possible? (5) Which aspects of these resources are specific to music, and which are more general? We examine these issues by...

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T RA C T Article history: Received July 24, 2014 Accepted August 04, 2014 Available online August 08, 2014

Previous research has demonstrated that feedback circuits such as reflexes can be tuned by setting their gains prior to movement onset during both posture and movement tasks. However, such a control strategy requires that perturbation contingencies be predicted during movement planning and that task goals remain fixed. Here we test the hypothesis that feedforward regulation of reflex circuits a...