Background : Knee flexors tightness has been documented in apparently healthy adults and in those with musculoskeletal problems, but the influence of age on the tightness has not been studied in Iraq. This study was therefore designed to determine the influence of age on knee flexors tightness in apparently healthy subjects.Methods: Knee flexors tightness was measured using the active knee extension test (AKET) in 200 apparently healthy male and female subjects, aged 13 to 59 years. The subjects were recruited into 5 age groups using the purposive sampling technique.Knee flexors tightness was compared across the age groups using one-way analysis ofvariance (ANOVA). The independent t-test was used to compare knee flexors tightness on both lower limbs in male and female subjects.Results: Subjects' mean age was 29.63 ± 16.72 years. All subjects had knee flexors tightness (absolute extension lag) and this increased with age up to age group 40-49 years. The male subjects had significantly higher knee flexors tightness than the females in all the age groups.Conclusion: This study suggests that knee flexors tightness increases in apparently healthy persons from adolescent up to age 40-49 years and it is higher in males than females.Key words: knee flexors tightness, age, active knee extension test
The application of pultruded (GFRP) composite has become increasingly prominent in civil infrastructure projects. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of experimental and numerical studies conducted on the mechanical characteristics of (GFRP) composites across various temperature conditions, encompassing ambient and fire scenarios. The compilation comprises over 100 scholarly articles that examine the mechanical behavior of (GFRP) materials, specifically emphasizing their tensile and compressive strengths, showed the mechanical properties of (GFRP) materials are commonly compromised when exposed to high temperatures that approach or surpass the resin's glass transition temperature (Tg). In contrast, temperatures that are low
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to investigate the effect of cold plasma on the bacteria grown on texture of sesame paste in its normal particle and nano particle size. Starting by using the image segmentation process depending on the threshold method, it is used to get rid of the reflection of the glass slides on which the sesame samples are placed. The classification process implemented to separate the sesame paste texture from normal and abnormal texture. The abnormal texture appears when the bacteria has been grown on the sesame paste after being left for two days in the air, unsupervised k-mean classification process used to classify the infected region, the normal region and the treated region. The bacteria treated with cold plasma, t
... Show MoreThis study aims to isolate the pathogenic yeasts from genital tract and investigate their relationship with the age .The results clarified that the most pathogenic yeast isolated from genital tract was Candida albicans , also the results of C.albicanas isolates susceptibility test, to different antifungal revealed that they were sensitive to Miconazole, Ketoconazole and Clotrimazol and were resistant to Nystatin and Grisofulvin. The study of relationship of vaginal infection with the age showed that the incidence of infection with Candida was high among females age group (19-39 years).
In this work, a joint quadrature for numerical solution of the double integral is presented. This method is based on combining two rules of the same precision level to form a higher level of precision. Numerical results of the present method with a lower level of precision are presented and compared with those performed by the existing high-precision Gauss-Legendre five-point rule in two variables, which has the same functional evaluation. The efficiency of the proposed method is justified with numerical examples. From an application point of view, the determination of the center of gravity is a special consideration for the present scheme. Convergence analysis is demonstrated to validate the current method.
The flexible joint robot manipulators provide various benefits, but also present many control challenges such as nonlinearities, strong coupling, vibration, etc. This paper proposes optimal second order integral sliding mode control (OSOISMC) for a single link flexible joint manipulator to achieve robust and smooth performance. Firstly, the integral sliding mode control is designed, which consists of a linear quadratic regulator (LQR) as a nominal control, and switching control. This control guarantees the system robustness for the entire process. Then, a nonsingularterminal sliding surface is added to give a second order integral sliding mode control (SOISMC), which reduces chartering effect and gives the finite time convergence as well. S
... Show MoreTrajectory tracking and vibration suppression are essential objectives in a flexible joint manipulator control. The flexible joint manipulator is an under-actuated system, in which the number of control actions is less than the degree of freedom to be controlled. It is very challenging to control the underactuated nonlinear system with two degree of freedom. This paper presents a hierarchical sliding mode control (HSMC) for a rotary flexible joint manipulator (RFJM). Firstly, the rotary flexible joint manipulator is modeled by two subsystems. Secondly, the sliding surfaces for both subsystems are constructed. Finally, the control action is designed based on the Lyapunov function. Computer simulation results demonstrate the effectiveness of
... Show MoreThis article presents a new cascaded extended state observer (CESO)-based sliding-mode control (SMC) for an underactuated flexible joint robot (FJR). The control of the FJR has many challenges, including coupling, underactuation, nonlinearity, uncertainties and external disturbances, and the noise amplification especially in the high-order systems. The proposed control integrates the CESO and SMC, in which the CESO estimates the states and disturbances, and the SMC provides the system robustness to the uncertainty and disturbance estimation errors. First, a dynamic model of the FJR is derived and converted from an underactuated form to a canonical form via the Olfati transformation and a flatness approach, which reduces the complexity of th
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