A practical clinical kinematic model for the upper limbs.

A novel clinically practical upper limb model is introduced that has been developed through clinical use in children and adults with neurological conditions to guide surgery to the elbow and wrist. This model has a minimal marker set, minimal virtual markers, and no functional joint centres to minimise the demands on the patient and duration of data collection. The model calculates forearm supination independently from the humerus segment, eliminating any errors introduced by poor modelling of the shoulder joint centre.

A device for testing the dynamic performance of in situ force plates.

Force plates are often incorporated into motion capture systems for the calculation of joint kinetic variables and other data. This project aimed to create a system that could be used to check the dynamic performance of force plate in situ. The proposed solution involved the design and development of an eccentrically loaded wheel mounted on a weighted frame.

Wear of PEEK-OPTIMA® and PEEK-OPTIMA®-Wear Performance articulating against highly cross-linked polyethylene.

The idea of all polymer artificial joints, particularly for the knee and finger, has been raised several times in the past 20 years. This is partly because of weight but also to reduce stress shielding in the bone when stiffer materials such as metals or ceramics are used. With this in mind, pin-on-plate studies of various polyetheretherketone preparations against highly cross-linked polyethylene were conducted to investigate the possibility of using such a combination in the design of a new generation of artificial joints.

Masculine somatotype and hirsuteness as determinants of sexual attractiveness to women.

Five questionnaire studies asked women to rate the attractiveness of outline drawings of male figures that varied in somatotype, body proportions, symmetry, and in distribution of trunk hair. In Study 1, back-posed figures of mesomorphic (muscular) somatotypes were rated as most attractive, followed by average, ectomorphic (slim), and endomorphic (heavily built) figures by both British and Sri Lankan women. In Study 2, computer morphing of somatotypes to produce an intergraded series resulted in a graded response in terms of perceived attractiveness which mirrored the findings of Study 1.