The Relationship between Ground Reaction Force and Components Of The Rear Hand Punch

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I would take this opportunity to thank my research supervisor, family and friends for their support and guidance without which this research would not have been possible.



DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], declare that the contents of this dissertation/thesis represent my own unaided work, and that the dissertation/thesis has not previously been submitted for academic examination towards any qualification. Furthermore, it represents my own opinions and not necessarily those of the University.

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTii

DECLARATIONiii

Chapter 1: Introduction1

Ground Reaction Force1

Components of Punch Force5

Aims & Objectives fo the study6

Chapter 3: Methodology7

Research design7

Participants & Sampling procedure8

Data Collection8

Data Analysis9

Bibliography10

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background of the Study

Prior to embarking upon purchasing expensive locomotor analysis equipment, and planning experiments where kinematics and/or kinetic locomotor assessment will be performed, it is imperative that the experimenter be familiar with the technical and practical aspects of biomechanical analyses, sensorimotor behavior, operant conditioning of animals, and handling/storing/managing large amounts of digitized data.

Though these pre-requisites seem obvious to many, it is only after embarking upon these types of experiments where trainees realize the technical and practical complexities of performing relatively detailed locomotor analysis. The authors recommend that experimenters enroll in a course dealing with introductory biomechanics, be familiar with or hire someone familiar with a programming language required for data management, and of equal importance, spend substantial time interacting, handling, and working with laboratory animals. For understanding locomotion analysis and sensorimotor behavioral analysis in the neurosciences, experimenters are referred to several important references.

Problem Statement

A kinematic and kinetic testing apparatus, useful for collecting bilateral data, is comprised of the following components (see "Table of Specific Reagents and Equipment" for more detail):

Quiet and sufficiently-sized room (not necessarily sound-proofed, though located in a low-traffic area)

Radio to supply background "noise" to limit distracting noises from outside the room to animals

Clear plexiglass, enclosed, flat-surface runway (180 cm long X 20 cm wide X 60 cm high) with a square hole (11 cm X 11 cm) located within the centre of the runway equidistant from either end

Piece of plexi-glass (10.5 cm X 10.5 cm)

Double-sided adhesive scotch tape

3M reflective adhesive tape for skin markers

Hole punch for creating skin markers

Isofluorane anesthesia machine required for anesthetizing animals for shaving prior to placement of skin markers

Cheerios for encouraging movement of the animal along the length of the runway

AMTI HE6X6 forceplate

Vicon Motus customized system (software, computer, etc)

4 video cameras (at least 60 Hz sampling) and tripods with appropriate connector cables

4 camera-mounted halogen lights provides optimal lighting for illumination of the animal subject and the reflective skin markers

Appropriate sized calibration frame or volume necessary for Vicon Motus system to calibrate x, y, z positions into meaningful distance measures

Over-conditioning of the animals to this task can lead to animals galloping and bounding these gaits are indicative of animals traveling >90 cm/s. Bounding and galloping gaits, biomechanically, are more difficult to interpret for a variety of reasons (e.g. leg lead inclusion criteria, etc). In our experience, once rats consistently employ galloping ...