Central and peripheral mediation of human force sensation following eccentric or concentric contractions

Fatigue was induced in the triceps brachii of the experimental arm by a regimen of either eccentric or concentric muscle actions. Estimates of force were assessed using a contralateral limb-matching procedure, in which target force levels (25 %, 50 % or 75 % of maximum) were defined by the unfatigued control arm. Maximum isometric force-generating capacity was reduced by 31 % immediately following eccentric contractions, and remained depressed at 24 (25 %) and 48 h (13 %) post-exercise. A less marked reduction (8.3 %) was observed immediately following concentric contractions. Those participants who performed prior eccentric contractions, consistently (at all force levels), and persistently (throughout the recovery period), overestimated the level of force applied by the experimental arm. In other words, they believed that they were generating more force than they actually achieved. When the forces applied by the experimental and the control arm, were each expressed as a proportion of the maximum force that could be attained at that time, the estimates matched extremely closely. This outcome is that which would be expected if the estimates of force were based on a sense of effort. Following eccentric exercise, the amplitude of the EMG activity recorded from the experimental arm was substantially greater than that recorded from the control arm. Cortically evoked potentials recorded from the triceps brachii (and extensor carpi radialis) of the experimental arm were also substantially larger than those elicited prior to exercise. The sense of effort was evidently not based upon a corollary of the central motor command. Rather, the relationship between the sense of effort and the motor command appears to have been altered as a result of the fatiguing eccentric contractions. It is proposed that the sense of effort is associated with activity in neural centres upstream of the motor cortex.

Satellite protection and drag reduction using a purging gas flow

We have used the DSMC method to determine contamination (impingement of atmospheric molecules) and the aerodynamic forces on a cold satellite when a protective “purge gas” is ejected from a sting protruding ahead of the satellite. Forward ejection of the purge gas provides the greatest protection for a given mass of purge gas and the aerodynamic drag can be significantly reduced, thus compensating for the backward reaction from the forward ejection. If the purge gas is ejected backward from the sting (towards the satellite) the ejection provides thrust and the net retarding force can be reduced to zero. Contamination can be reduced and the mass of purging gas is less than the mass of conventional rocket propellant required to maintain the orbit of an unprotected satellite.

New calibration technique for multiple-component stress wave force balances

Force measurement in hypervelocity expansion tubes is not possible using conventional techniques. The stress wave force balance technique can be applied in expansion tubes to measure forces despite the short test times involved. This paper presents a new calibration technique for multiple-component stress wave force balances where an impulse response created using a load distribution is required and no orthogonal surfaces on the model exist.. This new technique relies on the tensorial superposition of single-component impulse responses analogous to the vectorial superposition of the calibration loads. The example presented here is that of a scale model of the Mars Pathfinder, but the technique is applicable to any geometry and may be useful for cases where orthogonal loads cannot be applied.

Can globalisation result in less efficient and more vulnerable industries?

Growing economic globalisation (a means of market extension) may increase the economic vulnerability of firms in modern industries, especially those in which firms experience substantial economies of scale. The possibility is explored that globalisation activates competitive pressures that forces firms into a situation where their leverage (fixed costs relative to variable costs, or overhead cost relative to operating costs or capital intensity) rises substantially. Consequently, they become increasingly vulnerable to a sudden adverse change in economic conditions, such as a collapse in the demand for their industry’s product. This is explored for monopolistically competitive markets and also for oligopolistic markets of the type considered and modelled by Sweezy using kinked demand curves. In addition, globalisation is hypothesised to induce firms to become more uniformly efficient. While this has static efficiency advantages, this lack of heterogeneity in productive efficiency of firms can make for economic inefficiency in the adjustment of the industry to altered economic conditions. It is shown that lack of variation in the economic efficiency of firms can impede the speed of market adjustment to new equilibria and may destabilise market equilibria.

On the mechanism of microbial cell disruption in high-pressure homogenisation

The tensions produced in the wall of a rigid, thin-walled, liquid-filled sphere as it moves with an axisymmetric straining flow are examined. This problem has not been previously addressed. A generalised correlation for the maximum wall tension, expressed in dimensionless form as a Weber number (We), is developed in terms of the acceleration number (Ac) and Reynolds number (Re) of the straining flow. At low Reynolds number We is dominated by viscous forces, while inertial forces due to internal pressure gradients caused by sphere acceleration dominate at higher Re. The generalised correlation has been used to examine the case of a typical yeast cell (a thin-walled, liquid-filled sphere) passing through a typical high-pressure homogeniser (a straining-flow device). At 56 MPa homogenising pressure, a 6 mu m yeast cell experiences tensions in the inertially dominated regime (Re = 100). The correlation gives We = 0.206, corresponding to a maximum wall tension of 8 Nm(-1). This is equivalent to an applied compressive force of 150 mu N and compares favourably with the force required to break yeast cells under compressive micromanipulation (40-90 mu N). Inertial forces may therefore be an important and previously unrecognised. mechanism of microbial cell disruption during high-pressure homogenisation. Further work is required to examine the likelihood of cell deformation in the high-strain-rate short-residence-time environment of the homogeniser, and the effect that such deformation may have on the contribution of inertial forces to disruption. (C) 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effect of load distance on self-selected manual lifting technique

The aim of this research is to determine the effects of constraining the horizontal distance of the feet from the load on the posture adopted at the start of the lift. Kinematic data were collected while each of 24 subjects lifted 3, 6, and 9 kg loads from a starting height 18 cm above the ground. The position of the feet was controlled relative to the load such that the horizontal distance from the hand to the ankle at the start of extension was either 20, 40, or 60 cm. Subjects performed 20 trials in each of six combinations of load and ankle-load distance chosen to provide three sets of equivilent load moment pairs. The initial horizontal distance from the load to the ankle had a large influence on the posture adopted to lift the load. Ankle and knee flexion, in particular, were reduced when the ankle-load distance was smaller, and particularly so when the distance was reduced to 20 cm. Hip flexion was reduced to a smaller extent, while lumbar vertebral flexion remained relatively unchanged. The inclination of the trunk at the start of the lift was unchanged when the ankle-load distance was 60 or 40 cm, but was 10 degrees greater when the load was 20 cm from the ankles, indicating that subjects adopted a posture closer to a stoop when the ankle-load distance was small. Comparison of conditions of equal load moment (but different load mass and ankle-load distance) revealed differences which mirrored the effects of ankle-load distance alone, suggesting that the effects of ankle-load distance on the posture adopted at the start of extension were largely independent of the load moment. While the forces and torques required to lift a load must be to some extent dependent on the load moment, rather than load or ankle-load distance per se, the posture adopted to lift the load is not.

Analysis of small signal stability margins using genetic optimization

Power system small signal stability analysis aims to explore different small signal stability conditions and controls, namely: (1) exploring the power system security domains and boundaries in the space of power system parameters of interest, including load flow feasibility, saddle node and Hopf bifurcation ones; (2) finding the maximum and minimum damping conditions; and (3) determining control actions to provide and increase small signal stability. These problems are presented in this paper as different modifications of a general optimization to a minimum/maximum, depending on the initial guesses of variables and numerical methods used. In the considered problems, all the extreme points are of interest. Additionally, there are difficulties with finding the derivatives of the objective functions with respect to parameters. Numerical computations of derivatives in traditional optimization procedures are time consuming. In this paper, we propose a new black-box genetic optimization technique for comprehensive small signal stability analysis, which can effectively cope with highly nonlinear objective functions with multiple minima and maxima, and derivatives that can not be expressed analytically. The optimization result can then be used to provide such important information such as system optimal control decision making, assessment of the maximum network's transmission capacity, etc. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science S.A. All rights reserved.

Evolution of three-dimensional folds for a non-Newtonian plate in a viscous medium

We derive analytical solutions for the three-dimensional time-dependent buckling of a non-Newtonian viscous plate in a less viscous medium. For the plate we assume a power-law rheology. The principal, axes of the stretching D-ij in the homogeneously deformed ground state are parallel and orthogonal to the bounding surfaces of the plate in the flat state. In the model formulation the action of the less viscous medium is replaced by equivalent reaction forces. The reaction forces are assumed to be parallel to the normal vector of the deformed plate surfaces. As a consequence, the buckling process is driven by the differences between the in-plane stresses and out of plane stress, and not by the in-plane stresses alone as assumed in previous models. The governing differential equation is essentially an orthotropic plate equation for rate dependent material, under biaxial pre-stress, supported by a viscous medium. The differential problem is solved by means of Fourier transformation and largest growth coefficients and corresponding wavenumbers are evaluated. We discuss in detail fold evolutions for isotropic in-plane stretching (D-11 = D-22), uniaxial plane straining (D-22 = 0) and in-plane flattening (D-11 = -2D(22)). Three-dimensional plots illustrate the stages of fold evolution for random initial perturbations or initial embryonic folds with axes non-parallel to the maximum compression axis. For all situations, one dominant set of folds develops normal to D-11, although the dominant wavelength differs from the Biot dominant wavelength except when the plate has a purely Newtonian viscosity. However, in the direction parallel to D-22, there exist infinitely many modes in the vicinity of the dominant wavelength which grow only marginally slower than the one corresponding to the dominant wavelength. This means that, except for very special initial conditions, the appearance of a three-dimensional fold will always be governed by at least two wavelengths. The wavelength in the direction parallel to D-11 is the dominant wavelength, and the wavelength(s) in the direction parallel to D-22 is determined essentially by the statistics of the initial state. A comparable sensitivity to the initial geometry does not exist in the classic two-dimensional folding models. In conformity with tradition we have applied Kirchhoff's hypothesis to constrain the cross-sectional rotations of the plate. We investigate the validity of this hypothesis within the framework of Reissner's plate theory. We also include a discussion of the effects of adding elasticity into the constitutive relations and show that there exist critical ratios of the relaxation times of the plate and the embedding medium for which two dominant wavelengths develop, one at ca. 2.5 of the classical Biot dominant wavelength and the other at ca. 0.45 of this wavelength. We propose that herein lies the origin of parasitic folds well known in natural examples.