We studied the survival and regrowth of naturally-occurring blue oak saplings burned in a September 1996 arson fire in Vacaville, California. The saplings (pre-fire height 33-353 cm) were burned in a rapid, low-moderate intensity fire. Of 67 blue oak saplings surveyed, 4 failed to resprout after the fire and 2 more died within the following 5 years (9 percent mortality overall); all mortality w...

Despite the prevalence of directional changes during every-day gait, relatively little is known about turning compared to straight gait. While the center of mass (COM) movement during straight gait is well characterized, the COM trajectory and the factors that influence it are less established for turning. This study investigated the influence of a corner׳s height on the COM trajectory as parti...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether plasma N-terminal proatrial natriuretic peptide (NT-proANP) concentration could predict the outcome (survival duration) of cats with cardiomyopathy (CM). DESIGN Case-control study. ANIMALS 51 cats with CM (25 with and 26 without congestive heart failure [CHF]) and 17 healthy cats. PROCEDURES Cats were thoroughly examined and assigned to 1 of 3 groups (contro...

We aimed to establish a new formula for estimating renal depth, based on anthropometric variables, and to compare the estimates with actual data from a group of living kidney donors undergoing computed tomography angiography (CTA).Renal depths in 167 living kidney donors were measured by CTA. Regression analysis was used to derive the formulae for estimation of renal depth of both kidneys based...

BACKGROUND Annually, 35-40% of those aged >65 years fall; up to 5% of such falls result in fracture. Fracture is determined both by propensity to fall and by bone fragility. AIM To determine osteoporosis prevalence and predictors in patients who have fallen. DESIGN Observational cross-sectional study. METHODS We measured calcaneal BMD in 408 consecutive patients aged >50 years attending a...

Obesity may be the consequence of various environmental or genetic factors, which may be highly correlated with each other. We aimed to examine whether grandmaternal and maternal obesity and environmental risk factors are related to obesity in daughters. Daughters (n = 182) recruited from female students, their mothers (n = 147) and their grandmothers (n = 67) were included in this study. Multi...

RHex is a hexapod with compliant legs and only six actuated degrees of freedom. Its ability to traverse highly fractured and unstable terrain, as well ascend and descend a particular flight of stairs has already been documented. In this paper, we describe an open loop controller that enables our small robot (Length: 51 cm, Width: 20 cm, Height: 12.7 cm. Leg length: 16 cm), to reliably climb a w...

A miniaturized new topology of the planar monopole antenna using a Magneto-Dielectric Material (MDM) is proposed in this paper. The element realized by introducing slots partially covered MDM. We optimized and modified MDM dimensions to enhance impact material on antenna, including its structure. This shows miniaturization rate 60% antenna’s height (51 cm 20 cm) covering only 5% surface measure...