The Effect of Metronome Pacing on Gait in Healthy Subjects

The complex process of gait is rendered partially automatic by central pattern generators (CPGs). To further our understanding of their role in gait control in healthy subjects, we applied a paradigm of anti-phase, or syncopated, movement to gait. To provide a context for our results, we reviewed the literature on in-phase, or synchronized, gait. The review results are as follows. Auditory cueing increased step/stride rate for older subjects, but not younger. Stride rate variability decreased for younger subjects, perhaps because the metronome’s cue acted as a temporal ‘anchor point’ for each step. Step width increased in half of the treadmill studies, but none of the overground ones, suggesting a cumulative effect of the attentional demands of synchronizing gait while on a treadmill. Time series analysis revealed that the α exponent was the most sensitive parameter reported, decreasing toward anti-persistence in almost all cued-gait studies. This project compares in-phase (IN) and anti-phase gait (ANTI) in young and old healthy subjects. We expected gait to be less disrupted during ANTI trials at preferred speed, when the facilitating effect of CPGs would be strongest. The measures step time variability, jerk index, and harmonic ratio quantified gait perturbation: none indicated that ANTI was easiest at preferred walking speed. Surprisingly, the gait of older subjects was no more perturbed than that of younger subjects. When they successfully matched the pace of the beat, they unwittingly synchronized to it. The temporal relationship of their steps to the beat was the same in the IN and ANTI conditions. Younger subjects, visibly struggling during ANTI trials, were able to walk in syncopation. This result suggests that cognitive resources available only to the younger group are required to resist synchronizing to the beat.

The Effect of Support Measures on Involvement in Technology Transfer

The present PhD dissertation is dedicated to the general topic of knowledge transfer from academia to industry and the role of various measures at both institutional and university levels in support of commercialization of university research. The overall contribution of the present dissertation work refers to presenting an in-depth and comprehensive analysis of the main critical issues that currently exist with regard to commercial exploitation of academic research, while providing evidence on the role of previously underexplored areas (e.g. strategic use of academic patents; female academic patenting) in a general debate on the ways to successful knowledge transfer from academia to industry. The first paper, included in the present PhD dissertation, aims to address this gap by developing a taxonomy of literature, based on a comprehensive review of the existing body of research on government measures in support of knowledge transfer from academia to industry. The results of the review reveal that there is a considerable gap in the analysis of the impact and relative effectiveness of the public policy measures, especially in what regards the measures aimed at building knowledge and expertise among academic faculty and technology transfer agents. The second paper, presented as a part of the dissertation, focuses on the role of interorganizational collaborations and their effect on the likelihood of an academic patent to remain unused, and points to the strategic management of patents by universities. In the third paper I turn to the issue of female participation in patenting and commercialization; in particular, I find evidence on the positive role of university and its internal support structures in closing the gender gap in female academic patenting. The results of the research, carried out for the present dissertation, provide important implications for policy makers in crafting measures to increase the efficient use of university knowledge stock.