Engineering Commons^™

Visuomotor Adaptation During Asymmetric Walking, Charles Napoli

Masters Theses

Necessary for effective ambulation, head stability affords optimal conditions for the perception of visual information during dynamic tasks. This maintenance of head-in-space equilibrium is achieved, in part, by the attenuation of the high frequency impact shock resulting from ground contact. While a great deal of experimentation has been done on the matter during steady state locomotion, little is known about how head stability or dynamic visual acuity is maintained during asymmetric walking.

In this study, fifteen participants were instructed to walk on a split-belt treadmill for ten minutes while verbally reporting the orientation of a randomized Landolt-C optotype that was …

Microenvironment Regulates Fusion Of Breast Cancer Cells, Peiran Zhu

Masters Theses

Fusion of cancer cells has been observed in tumors for more than a century and is thought to contribute to tumor development and drug resistance. The low frequency of cell fusion events and the instability of fused cells have hindered our ability to understand the molecular mechanisms that govern cell fusion. We have developed a patterned gel system that can isolate cell fusion events and we demonstrate that several breast cancer cell lines can fuse into multinucleated giant cells in vitro, and the initiation and longevity of fused cells can be regulated solely by biophysical factors. Dynamically tuning the adhesive …

Engineering Modeling, Analysis And Optimal Design Of Custom Foot Orthotic, Lieselle Enid Trinidad

Open Access Dissertations

This research details a procedure for the systematic design of custom foot orthotics based on simulation models and their validation through experimental and clinical studies. These models may ultimately be able to replace the use of empirical tables for designing custom foot orthotics and enable optimal design thicknesses based on the body weight and activities of end-users. Similarly, they may facilitate effortless simulation of various orthotic and loading conditions, changes in material properties, and foot deformities by simply altering model parameters. Finally, these models and the corresponding results may also form the basis for subsequent design of a new generation …