• International Journal of Control, Automation, and Systems
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.302-307
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• 2006

The aim of applying Functional Electrical Stimulation (FES) is to restore a person's motor function by directly supplying the controlled electrical currents to the site of the paralyzed muscles. However, most clinically utilized FES systems have adapted an open-loop control scheme. Recently the closed-loop control scheme has been considered for setting up the FES system, but due to the inherent nonlinearities in the musculoskeletal system, the nonlinearities were not fully compensated and it caused the oscillatory responses for tracking the output variables. In this study, a nonlinear controller model that has two inverse compensation units is proposed with the compromising feedback linearization method and this will eventually be used to design the FES control system for stimulating a knee joint musculoskeletal system.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.1-21
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• 2014

Knee Braced Frame (KBF) is a special form of ductile eccentrically braced frame having a diagonal brace connected to a knee element, as a hysteretic damper, instead of beam-column joint. This paper first presents an experimental investigation on cyclic performance of two knee braced single span one-story frame specimens. The general test arrangement, specimen details, and most relevant results (failure modes and hysteretic curves) are explained. Some indexes to assess the seismic performance of KBFs, including ductility; response reduction factor and energy dissipation capabilities are also subsequently discussed. Experimental results indicate that the maximum equivalent damping ratios achieved by test frames are 21.8 and 23% for the specimens, prior to failure. Finally, a simplified analytical model is derived to predict the bilinear behavior of the KBFs. Acceptable conformity between analytical and experimental results proves the accuracy of the proposed model.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Precision Engineering
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• v.22 no.11 s.176
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• pp.24-29
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• 2005

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.17 no.6
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• pp.825-835
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• 2003

Previous studies have demonstrated the importance of joint angle errors mainly due to skin artifact and measurement errors during gait analysis. Joint angle errors lead to unreliable kinematics and kinetic analyses in the investigation of human motion. The purpose of this paper is to present the Joint Averaging Coordinate System (JACS) method for human gait analysis. The JACS method is based on the concept of statistical data reduction of anatomically referenced marker data. Since markers are not attached to rigid bodies, different marker combinations lead to slightly different predictions of joint angles. These different combinations can be averaged in order to provide a "best" estimate of joint angle. Results of a gait analysis are presented using clinically meaningful terminology to provide better communication with clinical personal. In order to verify the developed JACS method, a simple three-dimensional knee joint contact model was developed, employing an absolute coordinate system without using any kinematics constraint in which thigh and shank segments can be derived independently. In the experimental data recovery, the separation and penetration distance of the knee joint is supposed to be zero during one gait cycle if there are no errors in the experimental data. Using the JACS method, the separation and penetration error was reduced compared to well-developed existing methods such as ACRS and Spoor & Veldpaus method. The separation and penetration distance ranged up to 15 mm and 12 mm using the Spoor & Veldpaus and ACRS method, respectively, compared to 9 mm using JACS method. Statistical methods like the JACS can be applied in conjunction with existing techniques that reduce systematic errors in marker location, leading to an improved assessment of human gait.

• International conference on construction engineering and project management
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• 2022.06a
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• pp.728-735
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• 2022

Roofers get exposed to increased risk of knee musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) at different phases of a sloped shingle installation task. As different phases are associated with different risk levels, this study explored the application of machine learning for automated classification of seven phases in a shingle installation task using knee kinematics and roof slope information. An optical motion capture system was used to collect knee kinematics data from nine subjects who mimicked shingle installation on a slope-adjustable wooden platform. Four features were used in building a phase classification model. They were three knee joint rotation angles (i.e., flexion, abduction-adduction, and internal-external rotation) of the subjects, and the roof slope at which they operated. Three ensemble machine learning algorithms (i.e., random forests, decision trees, and k-nearest neighbors) were used for training and prediction. The simulations indicate that the k-nearest neighbor classifier provided the best performance, with an overall accuracy of 92.62%, demonstrating the considerable potential of machine learning methods in detecting shingle installation phases from workers knee joint rotation and roof slope information. This knowledge, with further investigation, may facilitate knee MSD risk identification among roofers and intervention development.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.1-13
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• 2012

In this study, a new structural bracing system named 'Hat Knee Bracing' (HKB) is presented. In this structural system, a special form of diagonal braces, which is connected to the knee elements instead of beam-column joints, is investigated. The diagonal elements provide lateral stiffness during moderate earthquakes. However the knee elements, which is a fuse-like component, is designed to have one plastic joint in the knee elements for dissipation of the energy caused by strong earthquake. First, a suitable shape for brace and knee elements is proposed through elastic studying of the system and several practical parameters are established. Afterward, by developing applicable and highly accurate models in Drain-2DX, the inelastic behavior of the system is carefully considered. In addition, with inelastic study of the new bracing system and comparison with the prevalent Knee Bracing Frame system (KBF model) in nonlinear static and dynamic analysis, the seismic behavior of the new bracing system is reasonably evaluated.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.35 no.7
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• pp.785-790
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• 2011

The goal of this study is to estimate the force acting on the knee joint in the human body by using the Hilltype muscle model based on a musculoskeletal model of the human lower extremity in the sagittal plane. For estimating the force applied, the human leg is modeled using multi-body modeling. This leg model comprises biarticular muscles acting on two joints of the upper and lower limbs, and the muscles include some of the major muscles such as the hamstring. In order to analyze the uncertainty of the applied forces acting on the knee joint, statistical distributions of human body, leg part, parameters are required and to obtain the parameter's statistical characteristic of the part sample survey method is employed. Finally, by using the sensitivity information of the parameters, the force acting on the knee joint can be estimated.

• Journal of the Korea Convergence Society
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.7-11
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• 2014

The artificial joint is consisted with the upper structure of tungsten alloy steel and the lower part of polyethelene are applied with load. When this joint is applied with load in this study, the load distribution at the joint and the stress distribution of support hole to install the joint are investigated by finite element analysis. These results can be utilized at obtaining the basic material to have the experiment for the real thing. The crack is initiated as the load is concentrated at the end of corner on the upper structure. This behavior is in accord with a case of tissue damage due to the breakage of artificial joint reported at medical science.

• International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.30-33
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• 2008

Understanding the characteristics of amputee gait is key in developing more advanced prostheses. The aim of this study was to quantitatively analyze a stair-climbing task for transfemoral amputees with a prosthesis and to predict the muscle forces and joint moments at musculoskeletal joints using a dynamic analysis. A three-dimensional musculoskeletal model of the lower extremities was constructed from a gait analysis using transformation software for two transfemoral amputees and ten healthy people. The measured ground reaction forces and kinematical data of each joint from the gait analysis were used as input data for an inverse dynamic analysis. Dynamic analyses of an transfemoral amputee climbing stairs were performed using musculoskeletal models. The results showed that the summed muscle forces of the hip extensor of an amputated leg were greater than those of a sound leg. The opposite was true at the hip abductor and knee flexor of an amputated leg. We also found that higher moments at the hip and knee joints of the sound leg were required to overcome the flexion moment caused by the body weight and amputated leg. Dynamic analyses using musculoskeletal models may be a useful means to predict muscle forces and joint moments for specific motion tasks related to rehabilitation therapy.

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.101-123
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• 2011

Objectives : The aim was to study the effect of bee venom pharmacopuncture therapy with different concentration on rheumatoid arthritis rat model. Methods : We enforced a bee venom pharmacopuncture therapy with different concentration on rheumatoid arthritis rat model by the intradermal injection of chicken type II collagen emulsified. 14 days after the onset of the rheumatoid arthritis rat model, a fixed volume of bee venom was daily injected to ST-35 acupoint in the rat's knee joint for 2-3 weeks. The hind paw volume, arthritic index, arthritic flexion pain test, pain threshold, and serum analysis (CRP, $PGE_2$, ALT, AST) were analyzed, and the expression profiles of COX-2, c-fos, and substance-P at the dorsal horn region of the spinal cord and subchondral bone of the knee joint were also analyzed by using the immunohistochemistry. Results : After the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis rats with bee venom pharmacopuncture, the paw volume of edema of arthritic rats were almost restored to the level of normal group, and behavior tests were very effective. Also the evaluation on the blood serum analysis was remarkable. COX-2, c-fos, and substance-P positive cells in the immunohistological section of dorsal horn region of the spinal cord and subchondral bone of the knee joints were significantly decreased. also the bee venom pharmacopuncture was effective to alleviate their rheumatoid arthritic inflammation cytokine inhibition as regards to the behavior tests and joint histological appearance. Conclusions : Based on the results in this study, bee venom pharmacopuncture with concentrated treatment condition was very effective in low fixed quantity and progressive low increased quantity.