Drosophila melanogaster has become an important invertebrate model organism in biological and medical research, for mutational and genetic analysis, and in toxicological screening. Many screening assays have been developed that assess the flies' mortality, reproduction, development, morphology, or behavioral competence. In this study, we describe a new assay for locomotor competence. It compris...

INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVES Chagas disease is a prevalent cause of heart failure in Latin America, and its prognosis is worse than other etiologies. The Heart Failure Survival Score has been used to assess prognosis in patients with heart failure; however, this score has not yet been studied in patients with Chagas cardiopathy. METHODS The Heart Failure Survival Score was calculated in 55 pat...

This article describes the development of a prototype prosthetic ankle-foot system that passively adapts to surface slopes on each step of walking. Engineering analyses were performed to design the cam clutch and clutch engagement and disengagement mechanism. The prototype was tested by a veteran with a unilateral transtibial amputation. Kinematic and kinetic data were recorded while the subjec...

OBJECTIVE The external knee adduction moment (EAM) is often considered a surrogate measure of the distribution of loads across the tibiofemoral joint during walking. This study was undertaken to quantify the relationship between the EAM and directly measured medial tibiofemoral contact forces (Fmed ) in a sample of subjects across a spectrum of activities. METHODS The EAM for 9 patients who u...

The alleged high net energy cost of running and low net energy cost of walking in humans have played an important role in the interpretation of the evolution of human bipedalism and the biomechanical determinants of the metabolic cost of locomotion. This study re-explores how the net metabolic energy cost of running and walking (J kg(-1) m(-1)) in humans compares to that of animals of similar m...

The energy expenditure of six goats averaging 35 (SE 0.3) kg was measured when the animals were standing or walking on a treadmill enclosed in a confinement-type respiration chamber at different speeds (0.167, 0.333 and 0.500 m/s) and slopes (-10, -5, 0, +5 and +10%). The energy costs of locomotion, estimated from the coefficients of linear regressions of heat production (HP) per kg body weight...

This study investigated the feasibility of the Infrared (IR) sensor-based walking aids for detecting the gait intention. To compensate for the defects of Force Sensing Resistors (FSRs) or force sensors, such as the velocity control problem on gait slopes, we used IR sensors to investigate knee joint anterior displacement in order to recognize the gait intention. We also measure leg muscle activ...

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to describe the age-dependent changes in the parameters of physical performance and body composition in Japanese older adults who are independently dwelling in the community. We also examined whether the age-dependent changes differ among physical performance and body composition parameters. METHODS Cross-sectional data from 10 092 community-dwelling older...

Animals can move in not only elegant but also energy efficient ways. Their skin is one of the key components for this achievement. It provides a proper friction for forward motion and can protect them from slipping on a surface during locomotion. Inspired by this, we applied real shark skin to the foot soles of our hexapod robot AMOS. The material is formed to cover each foot of AMOS. Due to sh...