A novel exoskeleton robotic system was developed to assist stair climbing. This active demonstrator consists of a motor with a cable system, various sensors, and a control system with a power supply. The objective of this preliminary study is a biomechanical evaluation of the novel system to determine its effectiveness in use. For this purpose, three test persons were biomechan- ically investigated, who performed stair ascents and descents with and without the exoskeleton. Kinematics, kinetics, and muscle activity of the knee extensors were measured. The measured data were biomechanically simulated in order to evaluate the characteristics of joint angles, moments, and reaction forces. The results show that the new exoskeleton assists both the ascent and the descent according to the measured surface electromyography (sEMG) signals, as the knee extensors are relieved by an average of 19.3%. In addition, differences in the interaction between the test persons and the system were found. This could be due to a slightly different operation of the assisting force or to the different influence of the system on the kinematics of the users.

The thesis was originally meant to be an investigation into the necessity of architectural ornamentation. Throughout the exploration however, it became evident that architectural ornamentation was not all that was being studied. Instead, a broader term was needed in order to define the study. Instead of simply ornamenting architecture, the thesis is a study on augmenting architecture; more precisely, a study of the several elemental ways through which architectural experience can most effectively be augmented to foster aesthetic expression and heighten general architectural experience. The thesis deals with five of these fundamental elements; phenomenology, craft, contrast, complexity, and representation. The project that has been developed with these ideas in mind is an ancestral columbarium and the path that leads visitors to it. It is sited in a theoretical Virginian landscape that was designed simultaneously with the architecture, in order to present the architectural ideas with greater clarity and precision. The columbarium and path are a part of a larger family residence that includes an ancestral home, but for the sake of time the home was not designed. Instead, the relevant ideas are expressed through the path to the ancestral columbarium and the columbarium itself. / Master of Architecture

This is building the tango, a constructive investigation into the material consequences of dancing the tango. Building the tango is about the resurrection of passion and life, as well as passion for life, of which the reality is now. It also involves resurrecting passion and life on a site occupied by ghosts and ruins: Belle Isle in Richmond, Virginia. The constructive investigation of dancing the tango on Belle Isle includes reclaiming the scandal, individual movements and individuals moving together, opposition of body to body, opposition of bodies to space, placement of feet, love of the dance, and feeling the heat of the tango. Studying the material consequences of the tango requires that the structure, itself, is a tango. It is symbolic of a man's struggle for the possession of a woman. The structure is one part man, one part woman, every part dance. The constructive realities of the tango create a dance of materials, a dance of space and a dance of bodies within. / Master of Architecture

This project began with the measurement of the exterior stair at the East addition of Campbell Hall on the campus of the University of Virginia. The project continued with the design of nine different autonomous stairs, and nine stairs as buildings. Stairs are one of the most basic and complex elements of architecture. Stairs interconnect to all aspects of a building. Through ascension and descension our existence is modified. The 'eye of the stair' looks up and down into the well. It is like the 'eye of the storm', which allows us to see things calmly while everything outside the storm's eye is in motion. Through looking into the eye of the stair we see a stair's eye view. / Master of Architecture

Yes / Purpose: A recent randomised controlled trial indicated that providing long-term multifocal wearers with a pair of distance single-vision spectacles for use outside the home reduced falls risk in active older people. However, it also found that participants disliked continually switching between using two pairs of glasses and adherence to the intervention was poor. In this study we determined whether intermediate addition multifocals (which could be worn most of the time inside and outside the home and thus avoid continual switching) could provide similar gait safety on stairs to distance single vision spectacles whilst also providing adequate ‘short-term’ reading and near vision. Methods: Fourteen healthy long-term multifocal wearers completed stair ascent and descent trials over a 3-step staircase wearing intermediate and full addition bifocals and progression-addition lenses (PALs) and single-vision distance spectacles. Gait safety/caution was assessed using foot clearance measurements (toe on ascent, heel on descent) over the step edges and ascent and descent duration. Binocular near visual acuity, critical print size and reading speed were measured using Bailey-Lovie near charts and MNRead charts at 40 cm. Results: Gait safety/caution measures were worse with full addition bifocals and PALs compared to intermediate bifocals and PALs. The intermediate PALs provided similar gait ascent/descent measures to those with distance single- vision spectacles. The intermediate addition PALs also provided good reading ability: Near word acuity and MNRead critical print size were better with the intermediate addition PALs than with the single-vision lenses (p < 0.0001), with a mean near visual acuity of 0.24 0.13 logMAR (~N5.5) which is satisfactory for most near vision tasks when performed for a short period of time. Conclusions: The better ability to ‘spot read’ with the intermediate addition PALs compared to single-vision spectacles suggests that elderly individuals might better comply with the use of intermediate addition PALs outside the home. A lack of difference in gait parameters for the intermediate addition PALs compared to distance single-vision spectacles suggests they could be usefully used to help prevent falls in older well-adapted full addition PAL wearers. A randomised controlled trial to investigate the usefulness of intermediate multifocals in preventing falls seems warranted.

Impairment of stereoacuity is common in the elderly population and is found to be a risk factor for falls. The purpose of these experiments was to extend knowledge regarding impairment of binocular vision and adaptive gait. Firstly using a 3D motion analysis system to measure how impairment of stereopsis affected adaptive gait during a negotiation of a step, secondly by determining which clinical stereotest was the most reliable for measuring stereoacuity in elderly subjects and finally investigating how manipulating the perceived height of a step in both binocular and monocular conditions affected negotiation of a step. In conditions of impaired stereopsis induced by acutely presented monocular blur, both young and elderly subjects adopted a safety strategy of increasing toe clearance of the step edge, even at low levels of monocular blur (+0.50DS) and the effect was greater when the dominant eye was blurred. The same adaptation was not found for individuals with chronic monocular blur, where vertical toe clearance did not change but variability of toe clearance increased compared to full binocular correction. Findings indicate stereopsis is important for accurately judging the height of a step, and offers support to epidemiological findings that impaired stereoacuity is a risk for falls. Poor agreement was found between clinical stereotests. The Frisby test was found to have the best repeatability. Finally, a visual illusion that caused a step to be perceived as taller led to increased toe elevation. This demonstrates a potential way of increasing toe clearance when stepping up and hence increase safety on stairs.

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Cardiac rehabilitation (CR) exercise training, which traditionally involves the prescription of moderate intensity continuous exercise, can slow the progression of heart disease and improve cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF). Cardiac function is typically investigated using calculations of ejection fraction (EF) from echocardiography, yet EF measures do not provide information about the unique twisting motion of the heart. Novel measures of cardiac function, such as LV twist, myocardial performance index (MPI) and global longitudinal strain (GLS), may provide additional information about changes in LV mechanics associated with exercise training for individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD). The aims of this study were to investigate the changes in cardiac function, using both standard and novel measures, at baseline (0 weeks; T1), post-initial training (4 weeks; T2), and post-training (12 weeks; T3) in response to either stair climbing-based high intensity interval training (STAIR) or traditional moderate intensity continuous training (TRAD). We recruited 16 individuals with CAD (61±7years; 1W) and randomized them into TRAD and STAIR groups (n=8/group). Standard (CRF and EF), and novel (LV twist, MPI, GLS), measures of cardiovascular function were assessed at all three timepoints. CRF improved in both groups, after 4 and 12 weeks (STAIR: T1:22.1±4.2, T2:24.7±4.9, T3:25.4±5.2 and TRAD: T1:22.8±2.5, T2:25.2±4.9, T3:26.0±5.0 mL/kg/min; P<0.005) of CR exercise. We observed an increase in apical rotation (P=0.01) and LV twist (P=0.03), but no changes in either traditional (EF P=0.15), or novel (MPI P=0.19; GLS P=0.81) measures of cardiac function over time, in either group. It is possible that the relatively short training period (12 weeks) was not sufficient to result in significant changes in cardiac function, despite improvements in CRF. Future research should assess both standard and novel indices of cardiac function over longer exercise training periods to determine the ideal indices for tracking changes over time with interventions in this population. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Cardiac rehabilitation exercise is an important part of recovery after a heart attack, and it has been shown to improve heart function measured using standard ultrasound assessments. Studies have suggested that novel measures of heart function may be more sensitive in comparison to these standard ultrasound measures, yet these novel measures have not been examined in individuals completing stair-climbing based high intensity cardiac rehabilitation exercise training. This work examined the changes in both novel and standard ultrasound measures of heart function after either stair climbing-based high intensity interval training or traditional moderate intensity exercise training in individuals who have heart disease. While this study found that both stair climbing based high intensity interval training and traditional cardiac rehabilitation both resulted in increases in cardiorespiratory fitness after 12 weeks of training, no changes were observed in any of the standard measures of heart function. Supporting the concept that novel measures of heart function might be more sensitive, as some training associated changes were observed in the novel measures of heart function.

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