Abstract: A blood pump is powered by an implantable motive power source. The blood pump has four actively pumping chambers, two of the chambers simulating ventricles and two of the chambers simulating atria, wherein the ventricular and atrial chambers are driven in a reciprocating manner by a pivoting wedge hinged to a septal wall partition separating the ventricular from the atrial chambers. The pivoting wedge is hydraulically powered through systole and diastole by means of hydraulic motors harnessed individually to respective skeletal muscles and responsive to the contraction of these muscles which are sequentially contracted by control stimulation means. The hydraulic pressure from the hydraulic motors is transmitted through hydraulic lines to the blood pump.

Abstract: A linkage connecting two runners and a platform, includes three link members in a pentagonal configuration to effect a progressive shift of weight onto the uphill runner from the downhill runner during rotation of the runners about the long axis of the platform.

Abstract: A skiing device having at least a pair of parallel, elongated, longitudinally extending runners is provided with a platform therebetween, and quadrilateral linkage arrangements extend between the runners and the platform independently while at least one link member extends between the runners. The quadrilateral linkage arrangements between the runners and the platform allow the ski to carve a turn in the slope of a hill with more ease since the two runners present separate control edges.