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Large and repeated impacts on the heel during running are among the primary reasons behind runners’ injuries. Reducing plantar pressure can be conducive to reducing running injury and improving running performance and is primarily achieved by modifying the design parameters of running shoes. This study examines the effect of design parameters of running shoes (i.e., heel-cup, insole material, midsole material, and insole thickness) on landing peak plantar pressure and determines the combination of different parameters that optimize cushion effects by employing the Taguchi method. We developed the foot–shoe finite element (FE) model through reverse engineering. Model assembly with different design parameters was generated in accordance with the Taguchi method orthogonal table. The effectiveness of the model was verified using the static standing model in Ansys. The significance and contribution of different design parameters, and the optimal design to reduce plantar pressure during landing, were determined using the Taguchi method. In the descending order of percentage contribution was a conforming heel-cup (53.18%), insole material (25.89%), midsole material (7.81%), and insole thickness (2.69%). The more conforming heel-cup (p < 0.001) and softer insole (p = 0.001) reduced the heel pressure during landing impact. The optimal design of running shoe in this study was achieved with a latex insole, a 6 mm insole thickness, an Asker C-45 hardness midsole, and a 100% conforming heel-cup. The conforming heel-cup and the insole material significantly affected the peak plantar pressure during heel landing. The implementation of a custom conforming heel-cup is imperative for relieving high plantar pressure for long-distance heel-strike runners.

Dairy cattle mastitis has long been one of the most common and costly diseases in the dairy industry worldwide, due to its significant impact on milk production and animal welfare. Among all mastitis causing bacterial pathogens, Klebsiella pneumoniae causes the largest milk loss. To better understand the genomic features of this population, 180 K. pneumoniae strains isolated from dairy cattle mastitis milk in 11 U.S. states were sequenced. The phylogenetic analysis classified all mastitis-causing K. pneumoniae into two major phylogroups, with exclusive predominance in phylogroup KpI. Analysis of more than 61 sequence types, 51 capsular types and 12 lipopolysaccharide O-antigen types revealed great genomic diversity of this K. pneumoniae population. Approximately 100 gene units in accessory genomes were detected with significantly higher prevalence in bovine mastitis strains, compared to human-sourced or dairy environmental strains. The most notable genes were identified associated with ferric citrate uptake, lactose fermentation and resistance to heavy metals. The acquired antimicrobial resistance genes were identified in sporadic mastitis strains. This comprehensive genomic epidemiological study provides insights for a better understanding of the virulence of mastitis-causing K. pneumoniae strains and may lead to the development of novel diagnostic tools and preventive strategies.

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Planar motor is used as an actuator to directly produce multi-degree long stroke, high speed, and high precision movement. Its performance mainly depends on the topology and design of magnet array. In response to the rising trend of structural complexity, this study presents a novel easy-to-manufacture magnet array using permanent magnets with different magnetisation intensity and height. First, the flux density distribution of magnet array with different magnetisation intensity is derived by the Fourier analysis and the scalar magnetic potential equation. Then, the magnetic field model of magnet array using permanent magnets with different magnetisation intensity and height is obtained by the superposition method. Afterwards, the magnet array is raised and optimised based on the derived model. Calculations show that the high-order harmonics are significantly reduced. At last, the proposed analytical modelling method and magnet array are verified with experiments.