Browsing Dissertations and Theses by Subject "Biomechanics"
Now showing items 1-16 of 16
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A Comparison of Lean and Obese Gait Characteristics of Children and Adults During Level Walking
(East Carolina University, 2010)Increased body mass affects gait kinematics and kinetics in adults. It is however unknown if increased body mass produces similar adaptations in children and adults. The duration of obesity in children is shorter than ... -
Comparison of Scaled vs. Ultrasound Based Musculoskeletal Models on Knee Muscle Moments During Single-Leg Squatting
(East Carolina University, 2012)Muscles produce force, resulting in moments about a joint, causing movement of the body. Muscle forces are estimated with a Hill-type model incorporating four parameters; optimal fiber length (OFL), tendon slack length, ... -
Control of Walking Speed in Young and Old Adults
(East Carolina University, 2012)Walking is a basic form of locomotion and walking velocity is a good predictor of human health, with faster velocities indicating better health. While faster walking velocities have been attributed to overall increases ... -
The Effect of Plantarflexor Strength Training on Gait Biomechanics in Healthy Old Adults
(East Carolina University, 2013)Locomotion is an important and inherent part of daily life and is integral in maintaining an independent lifestyle, especially in older adults whose functional capacity has declined. Physiological changes with aging, ... -
The Effects of Quadriceps Strengthening Exercise on Quadriceps Muscle Biomechanics During Locomotion in Adults with Knee Osteoarthritis
(East Carolina University, 2013)Knee Osteoarthritis (OA) is a disease characterized by knee joint deterioration and pain, while also being associated with altered knee joint mechanics and quadriceps strength deficits. Research investigating the effects ... -
Incorporating a visuomotor skill task with resistance training does not increase strength gains in healthy young adults
(East Carolina University, 2012)Resistance training causes well-documented adaptations in the nervous system and increases maximal voluntary force of healthy human skeletal muscle in the trained and also of the same muscle in untrained limb. It is also ... -
Increased Antagonist Coactivation-Related Hamstring Torque Reduces Maximal Knee Extension Torque in Healthy Old Adults
(East Carolina University, 2010)As humans age, the ability to produce maximal voluntary torque decreases due to muscle atrophy (sarcopenia) and it is also known that advancing age alters the neural control of voluntary movement. One manifestation of the ... -
Influence of Thigh Muscle Forces on Anterior Cruciate Ligament Forces during Single-Leg Landing from Three Different Heights
(East Carolina University, 2010)Over 200,000 anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries occur every year amounting to billions of dollars being spent on the ACL annually. While the quadriceps muscle produces an anterior shear force on the tibia that ... -
Influence of training history and contraction velocity on hamstring muscle coactivation during maximal effort knee extension
(East Carolina University, 2012)When a muscle produces voluntary force, muscles on the opposite side of the joint, the antagonists, are also activated. While coactivation of the knee flexors during knee extension is presumed to increase joint stability ... -
Modulation of H Reflex in Response to Voluntary Contraction of the Homologous Muscle in the Contralateral Limb
(East Carolina University, 2010)Several studies reported that exercising one limb produces gains in motor output in the same muscle of the un-exercised, contralateral limb. This phenomenon is called cross education. There are also data to suggest that ... -
Muscle Work Discrepancy during Incline and Decline Running at Three Speeds
(East Carolina University, 2009)Introduction: Previous research has explored muscle function during gait and this work has shown that more positive mechanical muscle work is produced in gait tasks that primarily raise the center of mass (incline gait ... -
NEURAL MECHANISMS CONTRIBUTE TO THE AGE RELATED INCREASE IN METABOLIC COST OF GAIT
(East Carolina University, 2010)Aging is associated with biomechanical and physiological changes in several organ systems, including neural changes of voluntary movement. One manifestation of age-related changes in neural control of gait is the increased ... -
POSITIVE VS. NEGATIVE MUSCLE WORK OF NON-LEVEL WALKING IN LEAN AND OBESE ADULTS.
(East Carolina University, 2010)When walking on non-level surfaces at a constant speed, an individual's total mechanical energy will increase when walking up an incline, and will decrease an equal amount going down a decline. Total muscle work performed ... -
The relationship between visual steadiness and force steadiness in young and old adults
(East Carolina University, 2013)Old adults exhibit a decrease in muscle force steadiness and visual capability compared to young adults. Many studies investigating force steadiness have used a visual target as the stimulus for modulating muscle force. ... -
STRIDE LENGTH MANIPULATION IN YOUNG AND OLD ADULTS DURING LEVEL WALKING
(East Carolina University, 2010)Physiological and neurological changes with healthy aging cause old adults to alter biomechanical gait strategies. Mechanical plasticity is an ambulatory strategy in which old adults rely on proximal musculature in ... -
Task Specific Effects of Unilateral Eccentric and Concentric Exercise on Spinal Excitability of the Contralateral Homologous Plantar Flexors.
(East Carolina University, 2011)It is well established that resistance training increases the size and strength of the trained muscles. It is also known that unilateral muscle contractions can produce strength gains in the non-exercised contralateral ...