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Effects Of Movement Context On Reach-Grasp-Lift Motion And Grip Force After Stroke, Stacey Dejong
Effects Of Movement Context On Reach-Grasp-Lift Motion And Grip Force After Stroke, Stacey Dejong
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Loss of upper extremity function after stroke is a significant problem resulting in enormous personal, societal, and economic costs. Neurophysiological discoveries over several decades have revealed great potential for use-dependent neural adaptation, and have revitalized the search for training strategies that optimize recovery. Although task-specific repetitive practice is recognized as a key stimulus to promote upper extremity function after stroke, choices of what to practice and how to practice remain challenging and poorly guided by evidence. This research was inspired by evidence in healthy individuals, that movement can be altered by characteristics of the task and the environment, together referred …
Pathological And Biomedical Characteristics Of Spinal Cord Injury Determined Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Tsang-Wei Tu
Pathological And Biomedical Characteristics Of Spinal Cord Injury Determined Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Tsang-Wei Tu
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Traumatic spinal cord injury: SCI) is the most devastating injury that often causes the victim permanent paralysis and undergo a lifetime of therapy and care. It is caused by a mechanical impact that ultimately causes pathophysiological consequences which at this moment in time are an unresolved scientific challenge of great social impact. Scientists have long used animal contusion models to study the pathophysiology of SCI in the discovery of progressive secondary tissue degeneration, demyelination, and apoptosis. More importantly, most therapies that have gone to human clinical trial were first validated in spinal cord contusion models. Magnetic resonance imaging: MRI) is …
Mechanics Of Heart Tube Formation In The Early Chick Embryo, Victor Varner
Mechanics Of Heart Tube Formation In The Early Chick Embryo, Victor Varner
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The heart is the first functioning organ to form in the embryo. For decades, biologists have worked to identify many of the genetic and molecular factors involved in heart development, and over the years, these efforts have helped elucidate the vast biochemical signaling networks, which drive cardiac specification and differentiation in the embryo. Still, the biophysical mechanisms which link these molecular factors to actual, physical changes in cardiac morphology remain unclear. The aim of this thesis is to identify some of the mechanical forces which drive heart tube assembly in the early chick embryo. A unique feature of this work …
Pelvic Shape, Hip Abductor Mechanics And Locomotor Energetics In Extinct Hominins And Modern Humans, Anna Warrener
Pelvic Shape, Hip Abductor Mechanics And Locomotor Energetics In Extinct Hominins And Modern Humans, Anna Warrener
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Habitual bipedal locomotion in hominins required major alterations in pelvic shape, particularly the recruiting of the minor gluteal muscles to act as abductors, stabilizing the pelvis during walking and running. However, significant disagreement has emerged regarding the effect of variation in pelvic breadth, in both extinct hominins and in modern humans, on hip abductor mechanics and locomotor energetics. The purpose of this dissertation was to test whether skeletal measures of pelvic width are correlated with relevant mechanical dimensions during locomotion, and how hip abductor mechanics may influence locomotor cost. Twenty-seven individuals participated in biomechanics testing, including kinematics, force plate and …