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Posture Noise and the Measured Probability to Fall

Radostina K. Koleva, A. Widom, D. Garelick, Meridith Harris, Bryan A. Spinelli, Amanda E. Finn, Kellie Bonner, S. White, Vijay Daryanana, P. Nyatsambo, M. Patel, R. Sampson

cond-mat.softarXiv:cond-mat/0108281

Abstract

Experimental evidence is presented connecting small fluctuations in the posture of a quiet standing subject and the probability that the subject will have an accidental fall within a time period of one year. The data can be understood on the basis of random velocity fluctuations providing kinetic energy in dynamical posture modes. The kinetic energy can activate a transition over the a potential energy barrier which keeps subjects in a metastable standing mode. The probability for a fall then follows an Arrhenius activation law.

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