In order to measure the nonlinear features of micromechanical resonators, a free damped oscillation method based on stair-stepped frequency sinusoidal pulse excitation is investigated. In the vicinity of the resonant frequency, a frequency stepping sinusoidal pulse sequence is employed as the excitation signal. A set of free vibration response signals, containing different degrees of nonlinear ...

BACKGROUND This study compared the validity of a new Omron HJ-303 piezoelectric pedometer and 2 other pedometers (Sportline Traq and Yamax SW200). METHODS To examine the effect of speed, 60 subjects walked on a treadmill at 2, 3, and 4 mph. Twenty subjects also ran at 6, 7, and 8 mph. To test lifestyle activities, 60 subjects performed front-back-side-side stepping, elliptical machine and sta...

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to compare gaze behaviour during stair and ramp walking between patients with chronic peripheral vestibular hypofunction and healthy human subjects. METHODS Twenty four (24) patients with chronic peripheral vestibular hypofunction (14 unilateral and 10 bilateral) and 24 healthy subjects performed stair and ramp up and down walks at self-selected speed. The ...

We introduce a general method for animating controlled stepping motion for use in combining motion capture sequences. Our stepping algorithm is characterized by two simple models which idealize the movement of the stepping foot and the projected center of mass based on observations from a database of step motions. We draw a parallel between stepping and point-to-point reaching to motivate our f...

[Purpose] The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of a complex exercise program for elderly people who had experienced a fall on their balance, gait, vestibular senses, and proprioceptive senses when their visual sense was blocked. [Subjects and Methods] The subjects were 30 healthy elderly people aged 65 or older. They were equally and randomly divided into a visual block (VB) ...

Composite adaptive grid (CAG) methods for solving hyperbolic partial differential equations (PDE's) are discussed in this paper. Composite grids are used at the coarsest level to deal with domains with complicated geometries. Stair step grids developed for composite grids are also used in the ner levels to cover reened regions. New data structures for stair step grids are proposed and implement...

A stacked type stair-case patch antenna with dielectric substrate (εr= 2.33) has been conceived and is theoretically demonstrated. Unlike conventional microstrip antenna it shows remarkable improvement in bandwidth (around 20%) as well as gain (around 10.5 dBi). The proposed structure is designed with two identical stair-case patches. Thorough investigations of the proposed antenna along with t...

The surface finish is critical for applications such as optics, micro-fluid flow and mechanical assembly, in which optical lenses, fluidic channels and rotating components are all required to be smooth. However, the stair-stepping effect is well known in the layer-based additive manufacturing processes, in which a three-dimensional model is approximated by a set of two-dimensional layers. Conse...