Effects of Dynamic IMU-to-Segment Misalignment Error on 3-DOF Knee Angle Estimation in Walking and Running.

The inertial measurement unit (IMU)-to-segment (I2S) alignment is an important part of IMU-based joint angle estimation, and the accurate estimation of the three degree of freedom (3-DOF) knee angle can provide practical support for the evaluation of motions. In this paper, we introduce a dynamic weight particle swarm optimization (DPSO) algorithm with crossover factor based on the joint constraint to obtain the dynamic alignment vectors of I2S, and use them to perform the quaternion-based 3-DOF knee angle estimation algorithm. The optimization algorithm and the joint angle estimation algorithm were evaluated by comparing with the optical motion capture system. The range of 3-DOF knee angle root mean square errors (RMSEs) is 1.6°-5.9° during different motions. Furthermore, we also set up experiments of human walking (3 km/h), jogging (6 km/h) and ordinary running (9 km/h) to investigate the effects of dynamic I2S misalignment errors on 3-DOF knee angle estimation during different motions by artificially adding errors to I2S alignment parameters. The results showed differences in the effects of I2S misalignment errors on the estimation of knee abduction, internal rotation and flexion, which indicate the differences in knee joint kinematics among different motions. The IMU to thigh misalignment error has the greatest effect on the estimation of knee internal rotation. The effect of IMU to thigh misalignment error on the estimation of knee abduction angle becomes smaller and then larger during the two processes of switching from walking to jogging and then speeding up to ordinary running. The effect of IMU to shank misalignment error on the estimation of knee flexion angle is numerically the largest, while the standard deviation (SD) is the smallest. This study can provide support for future research on the accuracy of 3-DOF knee angle estimation during different motions.

[Mass size distributions and existing forms of sulfate and nitrate and atmospheric environment in Beijing].

In order to understand the formations and the concentrations of the secondary sulfate and nitrate of PM10 in Beijing. From May 2008 to April 2009, MOUDI has been used to collect the PM10 samples in Beijing atmospheric environment and the ion chromatography has been used to analyze the inorganic water-soluble components of the PM10 samples. The results showed that the mass size distributions of soluble sulfate and nitrate of PM10 in Beijing were single-mode distribution and the peak rang was from 0.32 microm to 0.56 microm, and the primary formation ways was the chemical reaction in the gas phase. The results of partial correlation analysis indicated that the primary formations of sulfate and nitrate of PM10 in Beijing was (NH4)2SO4, NH4NO3, NaNO3, KNO3 and Ca(NO3)2. The mass concentration of secondary (NH4)2SO4 and NH4NO3 were (17.0 +/- 8.2) microg/m3 and (8.8 +/- 3.3) microg/m3 respectively, which accounted for (14.7 +/- 3.6)% and (7.6 +/- 2.2)% of PM10 respectively. The sum of them accounted for (22.3 +/- 4.3)% of PM10.