Explore the vast range of titles available.

With the global rise in the prevalence of diabetes, diabetic patients need innovative footwear designs to reduce the risk of foot ulcers. This study examined the mechanical properties of diabetic shoe midsoles featuring auxetic lattice structures. Through the construction of finite element models and simulation, this research compared the biomechanical parameter differences in the plantar regions of the metatarsal head, midfoot, and hindfoot when wearing two types of auxetic midsoles with internal angles of 60° and 75° and a non-auxetic midsole with an internal angle of 90° under both walking and running conditions. Compared to the non-auxetic midsole, the auxetic midsoles significantly reduced the peak plantar pressure and optimized the pressure distribution across various plantar regions. Notably, the auxetic 60° midsole reduced the peak plantar pressure by 19.68–55.25% and 16.19–54.39% compared to the non-auxetic 90° midsole during walking and running, respectively. This study also verified that the auxetic midsoles exhibited greater adaptability and compliance to the plantar foot shape, contributing to reductions in plantar pressure in comparisons of deformation values and plantar contact areas across the different midsoles. Auxetic midsoles manufactured using 3D printing technology have significant potential to prevent diabetic foot ulcers and maintain human foot health. This research integrates insights and techniques from materials science and ergonomics, offering a new direction for footwear design.

Dolce & Gabbana, $150

The perfect balance to a spring dress or barely there top, the block heel is the latest alternative to flat sandals or stilettos.

Go mad for jungle-menagerie accessories: ostrich sandals, a zebra clutch, camo-print pumps...

The suburban lady is spring's saucy muse all scarf prints and pantsuits, polka dots and cocktail shakers.

If Courreges and Quant were the sixties, Saint Laurent and Halston the seventies, and Chanel and Armani the eighties, who will typify the nineties? Katherine Betts picks this decade's household names.

Trips and slips are significant causal perturbations leading to falls on stairs, especially in older people. The risk of a trip caused by a toe or heel catch on the step edge increases when clearance is small and variable between steps. The risk of a slip increases if the proportion of the foot area in contact with the step is reduced and variable between steps. To assess fall risk, these measurements are typically taken in a gait lab using motion-capture optoelectronic systems. The aim of this work was to develop a novel smart shoe equipped with sensors to measure foot placement and foot clearance on stairs in real homes. To validate the smart shoe as a tool for estimating stair fall risk, twenty-five older adults’ sensor-based measurements were compared against foot placement and clearance measurements taken in an experimental staircase in the lab using correlations and Bland–Altman agreement techniques. The results showed that there was a good agreement and a strong positive linear correlation for foot placement (r = 0.878, p < 0.000) and foot clearance (r = 0.967, p < 0.000) between sensor and motion analysis, offering promise for advancing the current prototype into a measurement tool for fall risk in real-life staircases.

In the context of an imperious necessity to reduce the high amount of electric and electronic equipment waste, mainly by recycling also the plastics, not only the noble metals, the paper aims to reuse as reinforcing fillers some blends of polystyrene fraction of WEEE and the non-metallic part of printed circuit boards (WPCB). Elastomeric materials based on a styrene-butadiene block-copolymer that can be used as masterbatch for shoe sole materials are targeted. An improved processability is achieved using a paraffin-naphthenic oil. By optical microscopy, dispersed oil drops are observed into the homogeneous structures obtained based on the compatibility between WEEE and polystyrene blocks of elastomer and WPCB functionalities with polybutadiene phase. Physical interactions between the components are evidenced by FTIR. The variation of the tensile stress-strain curves is influenced by the waste dosages. The mechanical properties decrease with increasing the waste dosage, but maintaining the properties for the targeted application until 15–20% filler blend. The hardness of composites is direct proportional with the waste amount. By ESEM, some discontinuities and brittle interface between glass fibers and polymer matrix suggest the failure mechanism of composites. By dynamo-mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry, changes in glass transition temperatures of polystyrene and polybutadiene resulted due to the certain compatibility between high molecular mass polystyrene from WEEE and polystyrene phase and the dilution of polybutadiene phase with epoxy-glass fibers filler from WPCB. The reinforcing effect leads to an increase of storage modulus and viscosity. Analyzing the results, it can be concluded that new materials for the production of shoe soles are obtained using oil extended styrene-butadiene block-copolymer and 15–20% blends of WEEE and WPCB.

Paratroopers are highly susceptible to lower extremity impact injuries during landing. To reduce the ground reaction force (GRF), inspired by the cat paw pad and triply periodic minimal surface (TPMS), a novel type of bionic cushion sole for paratrooper boots was designed and fabricated by additive manufacturing. A shear thickening fluid (STF) was used to mimic the unique adipose tissue with viscoelastic behavior found in cat paw pads, which is formed by a dermal layer encompassing a subcutaneous layer and acts as the primary energy dissipation mechanism for attenuating ground impact. Based on uniaxial compression tests using four typical types of cubic TPMS specimens, TPMSs with Gyroid and Diamond topologies were chosen to fill the midsole. The quasi-static and dynamic mechanical behaviors of the bionic sole were investigated by quasi-static compression tests and drop hammer tests, respectively. Then, drop landing tests at heights of 40 cm and 80 cm were performed on five kinds of soles to assess the cushioning capacity and compare them with standard paratrooper boots and sports shoes. The results showed that sports shoes had the highest cushioning capacity at a height of 40 cm, whereas at a height of 80 cm, the sole with a 1.5 mm thick Gyroid configuration and STF filling could reduce the maximum peak GRF by 15.5% when compared to standard paratrooper boots. The present work has implications for the design of novel bioinspired soles for reducing impact force.

This study investigates the impact of 3D printed midsoles with biomimetic structures of varying densities on plantar pressure during static and dynamic motions. The midsoles were designed with three densities of Tyson polygon (TS) structures: 1TS, 2TS, and 3TS. Plantar pressure tests were conducted on midsoles during static and dynamic motions such as walking, running, and jumping. The data were analyzed based on hypotheses related to samples, motions, and 10 plantar pressure zones. As results, for static motion, all midsoles improved pressure distribution and reduced peak pressure compared to barefoot conditions, with 1TS being the most effective. During dynamic motions, 1TS and 2TS effectively distributed plantar pressure in the midfoot and heel areas, while 3TS provided better support and stability during high-intensity activities like jumping. Statistical analysis revealed that 1TS offered comfort and flexibility but lacked support, 2TS balanced support and cushioning, and 3TS provided superior support and stability but reduced elasticity during jumps. In dynamic motions, 1TS excelled in walking, and 2TS performed best in high-intensity activities such as running and jumping. In the meta areas (M2 and M3), 1TS reduced pressure by over 30% during walking and nearly 40% during running, while 3TS showed similar reductions during jumping, with BF showing higher pressures compared to running. Thus, this study highlights the effectiveness of 1TS and 2TS in reducing pressure in the meta and midfoot areas, emphasizing the importance of selecting the right midsole density for optimal comfort and performance across different activities.