AnkleImage - An ultrafast ultrasound image dataset to understand the ankle joint muscle contractility.

The role of the human ankle joint in activities of daily living, including walking, maintaining balance, and participating in sports, is of paramount importance. Ankle joint dorsiflexion and plantarflexion functionalities mainly account for ground clearance and propulsion power generation during locomotion tasks, where those functionalities are driven by the contraction of ankle joint skeleton muscles. Studies of corresponding muscle contractility during ankle dynamic functions will facilitate us to better understand the joint torque/power generation mechanism, better diagnose potential muscular disorders on the ankle joint, or better develop wearable assistive/rehabilitative robotic devices that assist in community ambulation.

The effects of subsensory electrical noise stimulation on the reactive control of balance during support surface perturbations.

Background: The ability to respond effectively to balance perturbations is crucial for fall prevention. Subsensory electrical stimulation (SES) applied to the skin leads to improved proactive balance control but there is limited evidence on the SES effect on reactive balance control.

Research Questions: To test the efficiency of SES in improving reactive balance control against unpredictable support surface perturbations and to compare the effects of SES applied to the trunk and the lower legs.

DEF1: Much more than an RNA polymerase degradation factor.

Degradation Factor 1 was discovered 20 years ago as a yeast protein copurifying with Rad26, a helicase involved in transcription-coupled DNA repair. It was subsequently shown to control the ubiquitylation and destruction of the large subunit of DNA damage-arrested RNA Polymerase II. Since that time, much has been learned about Def1's role in polymerase destruction and new functions of the protein have been revealed.