Deciphering how quadrupeds coordinate their legs and other body parts, such as the trunk, head, and tail (i.e., body-limb coordination), can provide informative insights to improve legged robot mobility. In this study, we focused on sprawling locomotion of ...
Quadruped animals achieve agile and highly adaptive locomotion owing to the coordination between their legs and other body parts, such as the trunk, head, and tail, that is, body-limb coordination. This study aims to understand the sensorimotor control und ...
Reconstructing the locomotion of extinct vertebrates offers insights into their palaeobiology and helps to conceptualize major transitions in vertebrate evolution. However, estimating the locomotor behaviour of a fossil species remains a challenge because ...
Understanding the evolution of scleractinian corals on geological timescales is key to predict how modern reef ecosystems will react to changing environmental conditions in the future. Important to such efforts has been the development of several skeleton- ...
Vascular smooth muscle is a major structural element of the arterial wall. We examined the effects of cytoskeleton destruction, after administration of Cytochalasin D, on the biomechanical properties of porcine common carotids. Compared to untreated, maxim ...
This thesis aims at better understanding the role played by vascular smooth muscle cells (VSM) in the biomechanics of the arterial wall. Current models assume that under maximal vasodilation VSM carry no load, or the so-called "active stress" is zero. Biom ...