Numerical Simulation of the Effect of Different Footwear Midsole Structures on Plantar Pressure Distribution and Bone Stress in Obese and Healthy Children.

The foot, as the foundation of the human body, bears the vast majority of the body's weight. Obese children bear more weight than healthy children in the process of walking and running. This study compared three footwear midsole structures (solid, lattice, and chiral) based on plantar pressure distribution and bone stress in obese and healthy children through numerical simulation. The preparation for the study included obtaining a thin-slice CT scan of a healthy 9-year-old boy's right foot, and this study distinguished between a healthy and an obese child by applying external loadings of 25 kg and 50 kg in the finite element models. The simulation results showed that the plantar pressure was mainly concentrated in the forefoot and heel due to the distribution of gravity (first metatarsal, fourth metatarsal, and heel bone, corresponding to plantar regions M1, M4, and HM and HL) on the foot in normal standing. Compared with the lattice and solid EVA structures, in both healthy and obese children, the percentage reduction in plantar pressure due to the chiral structure in the areas M1, M4, HM, and HL was the largest with values of 38.69%, 34.25%, 64.24%, and 54.03% for an obese child and 33.99%, 28.25%, 56.08%, and 56.96% for a healthy child. On the other hand, higher pressures (15.19 kPa for an obese child and 5.42 kPa for a healthy child) were observed in the MF area when using the chiral structure than when using the other two structures, which means that this structure can transfer an amount of pressure from the heel to the arch, resulting in a release in the pressure at the heel region and providing support at the arch. In addition, the study found that the chiral structure was not highly sensitive to the external application of body weight. This indicates that the chiral structure is more stable than the other two structures and is minimally affected by changes in external conditions. The findings in this research lay the groundwork for clinical prevention and intervention in foot disorders in obese children and provide new research ideas for shoe midsole manufacturers.

Comparative Morphological Evaluation of Young Women's Breast-Bra Reshaping by Different Bra Cups.

Female breasts are regarded as a factor reflecting women's morphological beauty. An appropriate bra can fulfill aesthetic needs, thus boosting self-esteem. This study proposed a method to analyze young women's breast-bra morphological variations between two identical bras with different bra cup thicknesses. The 3D surface scan data of 129 female students who were braless and wore a thin bra (13 mm) and a thick bra (23 mm) were analyzed. Integral sections of the breasts and bra were cut at a fixed thickness of 10 mm, and slice maps were derived. Morphological parameters were extracted in braless and the two bra conditions. The variations in breast-bra shape caused by different thicknesses of bra cups were evaluated by quantifying breast ptosis, gathering, and breast slice area. The results showed that the thin bra lifted the breasts by 2.16 cm, whereas the thick bra decreased breast separation, gathering the breasts and moving them 2.15 cm laterally towards the center of the chest wall. Moreover, prediction models constructed using the critical morphological parameters were used to characterize breast-bra shape after wearing the provided bras. The findings lay the groundwork for quantifying the breast-bra shape variation caused by different bra cup thicknesses, allowing young females to choose optimally fitting bras to achieve their desired breast aesthetics.

An image-based shape analysis approach and its application to young women's waist-hip-leg position.

Digital image processing has been widely used for researches in the fashion industry. This study presented a method to classify women's waist-hip-leg position based on body images. 135 healthy female students were selected as the experimental subjects, and then photo and 3D body measuring methods were used to obtain 40 shape parameters. Through factor analysis, five factors were extracted for the waist-hip position and eight factors for the leg position. The waist-hip and leg were separately classified into four categories after clustering analysis with optimised factors. The distribution of waist-hip-leg shape was analysed by combining the waist-hip and leg classification results. The results showed that 12.31% of the subjects had prominent abdomens, flat buttocks, and round and thin legs. The landmarks and parameters were automatically extracted for waist-hip-leg shape identification. The image-based shape analysis approach (ISA) was finally verified with an accuracy rate of over 90% with 30 new subjects.Practitioner summary: This study will propose an image-based shape analysis approach (ISA) to realise the quick automatic shape identification of the waist-hip-leg position based on body images. In addition, the method can be applied to pants' pattern alteration for different body types by analysing the relationship between the waist-hip-leg shape and pants.