The effects of perturbation type and direction on threat-related changes in anticipatory postural control.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the type and direction of postural perturbation threat differentially affect anticipatory postural control. Healthy young adults stood on a force plate fixed to a translating platform and completed a series of rise-to-toes movements without (No Threat) and with (Threat) the potential of receiving a postural perturbation to either their feet (15 participants) or torso (16 participants). Each type of perturbation threat was presented along the anteroposterior (A-P) or mediolateral (M-L) axis.

The effects of distraction on threat-related changes in standing balance control.

Research indicates that threat-induced changes in standing balance are associated with shifts in attention focus. This study investigated whether distracting attention modifies threat-induced changes in standing balance. Twenty-five healthy young adults stood without (No Threat) and with (Threat) the possibility of receiving a temporally unpredictable anteroposterior support surface translation.

In Operando Monitoring of Dynamic Recovery in 3D-Printed Thermoset Nanocomposites by XPCS.

Extrusion-based additive manufacturing methods, such as direct-write of carbon fiber-reinforced epoxy inks, have become an attractive route toward development of structural composites in recent years, because of emerging techniques such as big area additive manufacturing. The development of improved materials for these methods has been a major focus area; however, an understanding of the effects of the printing process on the structural and dynamic recovery in printed materials remains largely unexplored. The goal of this work is to capture multiscale and temporal morphology and dynamics within thermosetting composite inks to determine the parameters during the printing process that influence the recovery of the printed material.

Repeated exposure to the threat of perturbation induces emotional, cognitive, and postural adaptations in young and older adults.

Threat-related changes in postural control and their associations with changes in emotional and cognitive states are influenced by postural threat experience, however, limited work has explored individuals' capacity to adapt threat-related responses over longer periods of threat exposure. This study examined the effects of initial and repeated postural threat exposure on emotional, cognitive, and postural responses. Twenty-seven young and twenty-seven older adults stood on a force plate fixed to a translating platform.

Free Surface Relaxations of Star-Shaped Polymer Films.

The surface relaxation dynamics of supported star-shaped polymer thin films are shown to be slower than the bulk, persisting up to temperatures at least 50 K above the bulk glass transition temperature T_{g}^{bulk}. This behavior, exhibited by star-shaped polystyrenes with functionality f=8 arms and molecular weights per arm M_{arm} View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Exploring the relationship between threat-related changes in anxiety, attention focus, and postural control.

Individuals report directing attention toward and away from multiple sources when standing under height-related postural threat, and these changes in attention focus are associated with postural control modifications. As it is unknown whether these changes generalize to other types of threat situations, this study aimed to quantify changes in attention focus and examine their relationship with postural control changes in response to a direct threat to stability. Eighty young adults stood on a force plate fixed to a translating platform.