It is believed that human ancestors evolved the ability to run bipedally approximately 2 million years ago. This form of locomotion may have been important to our survival and likely has influenced the evolution of ou...It is believed that human ancestors evolved the ability to run bipedally approximately 2 million years ago. This form of locomotion may have been important to our survival and likely has influenced the evolution of our body form. As our bodies have adapted to run, it seems unusual that up to 79% of modern day runners are injured annually. The etiology of these injuries is clearly multifactorial. However, 1 aspect of running that has significantly changed over the past 50 years is the footwear we use. Modern running shoes have become increasingly cushioned and supportive, and have changed the way we run. In particular, they have altered our footstrike pattern from a predominantly forefoot strike(FFS) landing to a predominantly rearfoot strike(RFS) landing. This change alters the way in which the body is loaded and may be contributing to the high rate of injuries runners experience while engaged in an activity for which they were adapted. In this paper, we will examine the benefits of barefoot running(typically an FFS pattern),and compare the lower extremity mechanics between FFS and RFS. The implications of these mechanical differences, in terms of injury, will be discussed. We will then provide evidence to support our contention that FFS provides an optimal mechanical environment for specific foot and ankle structures, such as the heel pad, the plantar fascia, and the Achilles tendon. The importance of footwear will then be addressed, highlighting its interaction with strike pattern on mechanics. This analysis will underscore why footwear matters when assessing mechanics. Finally, proper preparation and safe transition to an FFS pattern in minimal shoes will be emphasized. Through the discussion of the current literature, we will develop a justification for returning to running in the way for which we were adapted to reduce running-related injuries.展开更多
Objective: To propose a method to segment tongue- images efficiently, and extract tongue- body accurately and quickly. Methods: Firstly, a kind of color- images' pre- processing technique was used to solve tongue-...Objective: To propose a method to segment tongue- images efficiently, and extract tongue- body accurately and quickly. Methods: Firstly, a kind of color- images' pre- processing technique was used to solve tongue- surface reflection problem. Neighbouring and similar region's information was used to restore the region with tongue- surface reflection problem by replacement. Secondly, the restored image was transformed into a gray one, and then processed by mathematical morphological operation- dilation to get a closed- loop edge. The third technique used was watershed algorithm, which is an usual tool in image segmentation. 'Watershed' function of matlab software was used to complete this algorithm. After that, region- combination technique was used. Through measuring neighbourship and similarity of regions, a non- objective and non- background region was merged into one of its neighbouring regions. This step was repeated until only two regions, objective and background regions, were left in the image. At last, corresponding to the merged image, tongue- body image was got from the original image. Results: 316 images were randomly taken from the image library for experiments, and 299 images were correctly segmented, so, the successful ratio is 94.62%. On the other hand, average time of running this method was about 50 s under whole sampling environment. Conclusion: The method presented in this paper can segment a tongue- body image from its original one effectively, and thus laying a good foundation for the following analysis work.展开更多
This paper is based on the interviews that the author carried out between 2005 and 2006 on the Nholowemwizana custom in Plumtree, Zimbabwe. Here the author deploys the concept of cultural violence following the peace ...This paper is based on the interviews that the author carried out between 2005 and 2006 on the Nholowemwizana custom in Plumtree, Zimbabwe. Here the author deploys the concept of cultural violence following the peace researcher Johan Galtung, who suggested speaking of cultural violence as aspects of culture that can be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural violence, and may be exemplified by religion and ideology, language and art, empirical science and formal science （Galtung, 1969, pp. 167-191）. Using the example of the Nholowemwizana custom among the Kalanga people, the paper will highlight the extent to which women in this society have been exposed to cultural, gender based violence and direct sexual violence. However literature on Nholowemwizana is scarce in Zimbabwe. As such the paper will borrow from literature on cultural violence in general. The paper also acknowledges the fact that not all culture is violent, and that in some certain aspects of culture that permit gender based violence especially in African societies. The starting point for this paper is the question of what role cultural arguments have played in the abuse of women through the Nholowemwizana custom.展开更多
文摘It is believed that human ancestors evolved the ability to run bipedally approximately 2 million years ago. This form of locomotion may have been important to our survival and likely has influenced the evolution of our body form. As our bodies have adapted to run, it seems unusual that up to 79% of modern day runners are injured annually. The etiology of these injuries is clearly multifactorial. However, 1 aspect of running that has significantly changed over the past 50 years is the footwear we use. Modern running shoes have become increasingly cushioned and supportive, and have changed the way we run. In particular, they have altered our footstrike pattern from a predominantly forefoot strike(FFS) landing to a predominantly rearfoot strike(RFS) landing. This change alters the way in which the body is loaded and may be contributing to the high rate of injuries runners experience while engaged in an activity for which they were adapted. In this paper, we will examine the benefits of barefoot running(typically an FFS pattern),and compare the lower extremity mechanics between FFS and RFS. The implications of these mechanical differences, in terms of injury, will be discussed. We will then provide evidence to support our contention that FFS provides an optimal mechanical environment for specific foot and ankle structures, such as the heel pad, the plantar fascia, and the Achilles tendon. The importance of footwear will then be addressed, highlighting its interaction with strike pattern on mechanics. This analysis will underscore why footwear matters when assessing mechanics. Finally, proper preparation and safe transition to an FFS pattern in minimal shoes will be emphasized. Through the discussion of the current literature, we will develop a justification for returning to running in the way for which we were adapted to reduce running-related injuries.
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China grant number: 30371717
文摘Objective: To propose a method to segment tongue- images efficiently, and extract tongue- body accurately and quickly. Methods: Firstly, a kind of color- images' pre- processing technique was used to solve tongue- surface reflection problem. Neighbouring and similar region's information was used to restore the region with tongue- surface reflection problem by replacement. Secondly, the restored image was transformed into a gray one, and then processed by mathematical morphological operation- dilation to get a closed- loop edge. The third technique used was watershed algorithm, which is an usual tool in image segmentation. 'Watershed' function of matlab software was used to complete this algorithm. After that, region- combination technique was used. Through measuring neighbourship and similarity of regions, a non- objective and non- background region was merged into one of its neighbouring regions. This step was repeated until only two regions, objective and background regions, were left in the image. At last, corresponding to the merged image, tongue- body image was got from the original image. Results: 316 images were randomly taken from the image library for experiments, and 299 images were correctly segmented, so, the successful ratio is 94.62%. On the other hand, average time of running this method was about 50 s under whole sampling environment. Conclusion: The method presented in this paper can segment a tongue- body image from its original one effectively, and thus laying a good foundation for the following analysis work.
文摘This paper is based on the interviews that the author carried out between 2005 and 2006 on the Nholowemwizana custom in Plumtree, Zimbabwe. Here the author deploys the concept of cultural violence following the peace researcher Johan Galtung, who suggested speaking of cultural violence as aspects of culture that can be used to justify or legitimize direct or structural violence, and may be exemplified by religion and ideology, language and art, empirical science and formal science （Galtung, 1969, pp. 167-191）. Using the example of the Nholowemwizana custom among the Kalanga people, the paper will highlight the extent to which women in this society have been exposed to cultural, gender based violence and direct sexual violence. However literature on Nholowemwizana is scarce in Zimbabwe. As such the paper will borrow from literature on cultural violence in general. The paper also acknowledges the fact that not all culture is violent, and that in some certain aspects of culture that permit gender based violence especially in African societies. The starting point for this paper is the question of what role cultural arguments have played in the abuse of women through the Nholowemwizana custom.
