When humans hop or run on different surfaces, they adjust their effective leg stiffness to offset changes in surface stiffness. As a result, the overall stiffness of the leg-surface series combination remains independent of surface stiffness. The purpose of this study was to determine whether humans make a similar adjustment when springs are placed in parallel with the leg via a lower limb orth...

BACKGROUND The major objective of the present study is to investigate the differences in the load and strain changes in the intertrochanteric region of human cadaveric femora between the loss of medial or lateral wall and after treatment with proximal femoral nail antirotation (PFNA). METHODS After measuring the geometry of the proximal femur region and modeling the medial or lateral wall def...

New comb drives using high stiffness ratio springs are designed and modeled to provide capabilities of large static displacement and continuous motion for applications, such as micro XY stage, two dimensional lens scanner, variable optical attenuator, and optical switch, etc. The maximum static displacement of conventional comb drive is constrained by the side sticking effect of comb finger ele...

In most of the designs of rigid structural frames, the analysis is carried out by assuming fixity at base, which means that the building is idealized to rest on hard rock. This paper discusses the importance of considering the effect of soil stiffness on the seismic performance of rigid structural frame system resting on it. Flexibility of soil causes lengthening of lateral natural period of th...

The objectives of this study were to obtain linearized stiffness matrices, and assess the linearity and hysteresis of the motion segments of the human lumbar spine under physiological conditions of axial preload and fluid environment. Also, the stiffness matrices were expressed in the form of an 'equivalent' structure that would give insights into the structural behavior of the spine. Mechanica...

Abstract—R.C.C. buildings with dual structural system consisting of shear walls (or braces) and moment resisting frames have been widely used to resist lateral forces during earthquakes. The dual systems are designed to resist the total design lateral force in proportion to their lateral stiffness. The response of combination of braces and shear walls has not yet been studied. The combination m...

BACKGROUND Several studies have examined the biomechanical stability of smooth wire fixation constructs used to stabilize pediatric supracondylar humerus fractures. An analysis of varying pin size, number, and lateral starting points has not been performed previously. METHODS Twenty synthetic humeri were sectioned in the midolecranon fossa to simulate a supracondylar humerus fracture. Specime...