Background Elucidating the relation between bone health condition and muscle strength can provide useful knowledge for Japan's super-aged society. This study ascertained the Speed Of Sound (SOS) of the calcaneus and upper and lower limb muscle strength in a general population. Methods Medical examinations were conducted of 277 adult residents (100 men, 177 women; average age 67.1 years) of a ...

Work-related upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders, including carpal tunnel syndrome, are prevalent among dentists and dental hygienists. An important risk factor for developing these disorders is forceful pinching which occurs during periodontal work such as dental scaling. Ergonomically designed dental scaling instruments may help reduce the prevalence of carpal tunnel syndrome among dent...

Two- and three-dimensional MHD simulations are used to provide a theoretical description of 2 wire molybdenum X-pinch experiments. The initial evolution from solid wires to the formation of supersonic jets and a central micro-Z pinch is found to result from the slow rate of wire ablation and from the distribution of the Lorentz force. The growth of m=0 instabilities triggers the formation of mi...

A key feature of the ancient body plan of scorpions is the pincer or chela. These multifunctional structures vary considerably in size and shape between different scorpion species. Here we provide the first comparative data on the pinching performance of the chelae of seven species of scorpions exemplifying the extremes of the shape range from slender to robust; Leiurus quinquestriatus, Androct...

BACKGROUND The human motor cortex (M1) has a role in motor learning. Antiepileptic drugs that suppress M1 excitability may affect learning, presumably by inhibiting long-term potentiation. Levetiracetam, a new antiepileptic drug with a unique preclinical profile, also suppresses M1 excitability, but in a way that is different from other antiepileptic drugs. The effect of levetiracetam on motor ...

The low impact forces of Tai Chi push-hand exercises may be particularly suited for older people and for those with arthritis; however, the biomechanics of push-hand exercises have not previously been reported. This paper examines the ground reaction forces (GRFs) and plantar force distributions during Tai Chi push-hand exercises in a stationary stance with and without an opponent. Ten male Tai...

Following the Northridge earthquake of 1994, a significant number of steel moment resisting structural systems were damaged. Several studies have been conducted to improve the seismic performance of steel structures and specially their beam-to-column connections. One of the proposed connections for special moment-resisting frames included AISC-358 is Kaiser bolted bracket moment connection, bri...