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Impulsive ankle push-off powers leg swing in human walking

Overview of attention for article published in Journal of Experimental Biology, January 2013
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About this Attention Score

  • In the top 5% of all research outputs scored by Altmetric
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age (98th percentile)
  • High Attention Score compared to outputs of the same age and source (96th percentile)

Mentioned by

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11 news outlets
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8 X users
video
1 YouTube creator

Citations

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70 Dimensions

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124 Mendeley
Title
Impulsive ankle push-off powers leg swing in human walking
Published in
Journal of Experimental Biology, January 2013
DOI 10.1242/jeb.097345
Pubmed ID
Authors

Susanne W. Lipfert, Michael Günther, Daniel Renjewski, Andre Seyfarth

Abstract

Rapid unloading and a peak in power output of the ankle joint have been widely observed during push-off in human walking. Model-based studies hypothesize that this push-off causes redirection of the body center of mass just before touch-down of the leading leg. Other research suggests that work done by the ankle extensors provides kinetic energy for the initiation of swing. Also, muscle work is suggested to power a catapult-like action in late stance of human walking. However, there is a lack of knowledge about the biomechanical process leading to this widely observed high power output of the ankle extensors. In our study, we use kinematic and dynamic data of human walking collected at speeds between 0.5 and 2.5 m s(-1) for a comprehensive analysis of push-off mechanics. We identify two distinct phases, which divide the push-off: first, starting with positive ankle power output, an alleviation phase, where the trailing leg is alleviated from supporting the body mass, and second, a launching phase, where stored energy in the ankle joint is released. Our results show a release of just a small part of the energy stored in the ankle joint during the alleviation phase. A larger impulse for the trailing leg than for the remaining body is observed during the launching phase. Here, the buckling knee joint inhibits transfer of power from the ankle to the remaining body. It appears that swing initiation profits from an impulsive ankle push-off resulting from a catapult without escapement.

X Demographics

X Demographics

The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 8 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 124 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Germany 2 2%
Unknown 122 98%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Student > Master 32 26%
Student > Ph. D. Student 25 20%
Researcher 18 15%
Student > Bachelor 7 6%
Professor 7 6%
Other 17 14%
Unknown 18 15%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Engineering 46 37%
Sports and Recreations 14 11%
Medicine and Dentistry 9 7%
Nursing and Health Professions 8 6%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences 6 5%
Other 14 11%
Unknown 27 22%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 90. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 15 May 2017.
All research outputs
#470,144
of 25,374,917 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Experimental Biology
#273
of 9,330 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#3,246
of 289,007 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Experimental Biology
#11
of 294 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 25,374,917 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 9,330 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 14.9. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 289,007 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 294 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 96% of its contemporaries.