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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Emily Abbott, PhD
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Georgia Tech
Abstract
Terrestrial vertebrates pounce on prey, negotiate uneven terrain, and ultimately come to a complete stop. To perform these controlled decelerations, an animal must absorb, or dissipate, mechanical energy in its skeletal muscles. This is achieved by eccentric contractions in which skeletal muscles actively produce force during an imposed stretch. My dissertation research investigated how timing of activation, relaxation rate and muscle architecture influence the rate of active lengthening of skeletal muscle.
