Analysis of Stair Climbing to Find an Optimum Knee Angle in Order to Reduce the Chances of Leg Muscle Fatigue and Injuries

Stair climbing is one of the unique exercises which is frequently used and helps in maintaining the leg muscles active and healthy. However, if the height of the stair is not optimum, it may cause serious injuries due to increased or decreased knee angle that may damage the human leg muscles such as quadriceps and hamstring involved in its proper function. A stair climbing leg model PASCO ME-7001 was designed to find an optimum knee angle for reducing the maximum chances of leg muscle fatigue and injuries by using the force sensors. Resultant forces applied on leg muscles i.e. hamstring and quadriceps at 4 different average angles: 40º, 57º, 68º, and 76º for four different stair heights: 3", 5", 7", and 9" respectively were studied graphically during ascending stairs. Also, the energy consumption of quadriceps is calculated for the desired 4 average angles. The optimum knee angle maybe 57-68 degrees at 5"-7" stair height for both flexion and extension of the leg during stair climbing.

Parental Acceptance-Rejection and Psychological Maladjustment: Determinants of Criminal Behavior

This study investigated the impact of perceived parental acceptance-rejection on psychological maladjustment among a group of criminals and non-criminals. The independent variables were parental acceptance-rejection, parental control, socioeconomic status, educational background, psychological maladjustment, aggression and low self-esteem. A comparison of personality profiles of prisoners was also measured. The sample comprised of two groups: criminals (N=81) who were selected from the Central Jail, Peshawar and a control group of non-criminals (N=90) consisting of individuals selected from the general population matched with the criminals in terms of socioeconomic status and educational background. A personal data-sheet devised by the researcher was used to record the demographic variables of the respondents. Urdu versions of Adult PARQ: Mother and Father (Short Forms: Riaz, 2011), and Adult PCS: Mother and Father (Short Forms: Riaz, 2011) were administered on participants of both the groups for assessment of their perceived parental acceptance-rejection and perceived parental control, respectively. To make a comparison between personality profiles of criminals and non-criminals, Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Adult PAQ: Riaz, 2011) was administered on all the respondents. It was assumed that criminals will perceive their parents as less warm and affectionate as compared to non-criminals. According to the results, criminals scored high on all the subscales of PARQ, indicating perceived parental rejection as compared to non-criminals, thus supporting our first hypothesis. Furthermore, it was also assumed that there will be significant gender differences in perceived parental warmth among the criminal group. Our findings revealed significant gender difference in perceived maternal warmth/affection, whereas, gender difference in perceived paternal warmth/affection among criminals was not significant. These findings partially supported our second hypothesis. A comparison between PCS scores of both the groups shows that criminals received more permissiveness and less control from their parents as compared to non-criminals. Moreover, our third and fourth hypotheses are supported by PAQ scores which reveal high scores of criminals on hostility and negative self-esteem subscales of PAQ. A comparison of personality profiles of criminals and non-criminals derived from PAQ scores supports hypothesis 5 as it reveals significant difference between the two groups. To elaborate, PAQ scores prove that criminals tend to be significantly high on hostility/aggression, negative self-esteem, negative self-adequacy, emotional instability, emotional unresponsiveness, and negative worldview. Lastly, as total score on PAQ is used as a measure of psychological maladjustment of the respondents (Rohner, 2008), therefore, a comparison of criminals and noncriminals in our study reveals that total PAQ score of the former group is significantly higher than the latter group. These findings clearly demonstrate that the prisoners were significantly high on psychological maladjustment. Thus, our findings lend support to our sixth hypothesis.