Basic functionality of a prototype wearable assistive soft exoskeleton for people with gait impairments : a case study

XoSoft is a soft modular wearable assistive exoskeleton for peo- ple with mild to moderate gait impairments. It is currently being developed by a European Consortium (www.xosoft.eu) and aims to provide tailored and active lower limb support during ambu- lation. During development, user-centered design principles were followed in parallel with the aim of providing functional support during gait. A prototype was developed and was tested for practi- cability, usability, comfort and assistive function (summarized as basic functionality) with a potential end user. The prototype con- sisted of a garment, electromagnetic clutch-controlled elastic bands supporting knee- and hip flexion and a backpack containing the sensor and actuator control of the system. The participant had ex- perienced a stroke and presented with unilateral impairment of the lower and upper extremities. In testing, he donned and doffed the prototype independently as far as possible, and performed walk- ing trials with the system in both active (powered on) and pas- sive (powered off) modes. Afterwards, the participant rated the perceived pressure and various elements of usability. Results high- lighted aspects of the system for improvement during future phases of XoSoft development, and also identified useful aspects of proto- type design to be maintained. The basic functionality of XoSoft could be assumed as satisfactory given that it was the first version of a working prototype. The study highlights the benefits of this participatory evaluation design approach in assistive soft robotics development

Interactions among the A and T Units of an ECF-Type Biotin Transporter Analyzed by Site-Specific Crosslinking

Energy-coupling factor (ECF) transporters are a huge group of micronutrient importers in prokaryotes. They are composed of a substrate-specific transmembrane protein (S component) and a module consisting of a moderately conserved transmembrane protein (T component) and two ABC ATPase domains (A components). Modules of A and T units may be dedicated to a specific S component or shared by many different S units in an organism. The mode of subunit interactions in ECF transporters is largely unknown. BioMNY, the focus of the present study, is a biotin transporter with a dedicated AT module. It consists of the S unit BioY, the A unit BioM and the T unit BioN. Like all T units, BioN contains two three-amino-acid signatures with a central Arg residue in a cytoplasmic helical region. Our previous work had demonstrated a central role of the two motifs in T units for stability and function of BioMNY and other ECF transporters. Here we show by site-specific crosslinking of pairs of mono-cysteine variants that the Ala-Arg-Ser and Ala-Arg-Gly signatures in BioN are coupling sites to the BioM ATPases. Analysis of 64 BioN-BioM pairs uncovered interactions of both signatures predominantly with a segment of ∼13 amino acid residues C-terminal of the Q loop of BioM. Our results further demonstrate that portions of all BioN variants with single Cys residues in the two signatures are crosslinked to homodimers. This finding may point to a dimeric architecture of the T unit in BioMNY complexes

Traces of trauma – a multivariate pattern analysis of childhood trauma, brain structure and clinical phenotypes

Background: Childhood trauma (CT) is a major yet elusive psychiatric risk factor, whose multidimensional conceptualization and heterogeneous effects on brain morphology might demand advanced mathematical modeling. Therefore, we present an unsupervised machine learning approach to characterize the clinical and neuroanatomical complexity of CT in a larger, transdiagnostic context. Methods: We used a multicenter European cohort of 1076 female and male individuals (discovery: n = 649; replication: n = 427) comprising young, minimally medicated patients with clinical high-risk states for psychosis; patients with recent-onset depression or psychosis; and healthy volunteers. We employed multivariate sparse partial least squares analysis to detect parsimonious associations between combinations of items from the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and gray matter volume and tested their generalizability via nested cross-validation as well as via external validation. We investigated the associations of these CT signatures with state (functioning, depressivity, quality of life), trait (personality), and sociodemographic levels. Results: We discovered signatures of age-dependent sexual abuse and sex-dependent physical and sexual abuse, as well as emotional trauma, which projected onto gray matter volume patterns in prefronto-cerebellar, limbic, and sensory networks. These signatures were associated with predominantly impaired clinical state- and trait-level phenotypes, while pointing toward an interaction between sexual abuse, age, urbanicity, and education. We validated the clinical profiles for all three CT signatures in the replication sample. Conclusions: Our results suggest distinct multilayered associations between partially age- and sex-dependent patterns of CT, distributed neuroanatomical networks, and clinical profiles. Hence, our study highlights how machine learning approaches can shape future, more fine-grained CT research

Digital elevation model of the Vietnamese Mekong delta based on elevation points from a national topographical map

This Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the Vietnamese part of the Mekong delta was interpolated using almost 20.000 elevation points derived from a national topographical map of 2014 (scale 1:200,000). The elevation data is vertically referenced to the Vietnam's geodetic Hon Dau datum, which has its elevation origin at mean sea level (MSL) of the Hon Dau tide gauge. The DEM was interpolated from the topographical elevation points using empirical Bayesian kriging employing empirical data transformation and an exponential model. Elevation points with elevations higher than +10m, located on elevated bedrock outcrops were excluded from the interpolation. Rivers and bedrock outcrops were clipped from the final DEM. For more details on the elevation data, the interpolation procedure and data processing steps, see the corresponding paper and supplementary information. File name: Topo_DEM_Mekong_delta_excl_rivers_and_bedrock.asc File format: ASCI file Spatial reference: WGS_1984_UTM_Zone_48N Vertical reference datum: Hon Dau datum (Vietnamese) Grid cell size: 500 x 500

The system integration of flexible electronics into a soft exoskeleton

In order to make exoskeletons more useful for a larger variety of users, especially within healthcare, it is of utmost importance to improve its wear ability. The scope of the XoSoft project is to develop a soft, wearable and comfortable soft exoskeleton. Here we describe the partial research on the integration of textile sensors for the XoSoft soft exoskeleton. Various resistive textile sensors for knee-sensing were made. All sensors show repeatable results however, their accuracy and usability for this project are questionable

Subsidence in the Mekong Delta; contribution of groundwater exploitation to total subsidence

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta, the third’s largest delta in the world, experiences annual subsidence rates up to several centimeters. These relative high subsidence rates outpace global sea level rise by an order of magnitude and strongly increase vulnerability of the delta to river flooding and storm surges, salinization and permanent inundation. Extraction of groundwater from the deltaic subsurface is indicated as a major driving mechanism; however the exact contribution of groundwater over-exploitation to subsidence in the Mekong delta has not been quantified yet. The objective of our study is to determine the contribution of groundwater extraction-induced subsidence to total subsidence. For this purpose we built a 3D numerical groundwater flow model of the Mekong delta and simulated the hydrological response to 25 years of groundwater exploitation. Subsequently, land subsidence caused by aquifer-system compaction due to groundwater over-exploitation was calculated using a land subsidence module. Calculated extraction-induced subsidence gradually increased over the past two decades to significant annual rates of several centimeters. Our results suggest groundwater extraction to be a dominant driver of subsidence in the Mekong delta, but leave room for other subsidence drivers, like loading and drainage. Our results are the first urgently needed quantifications of extraction-induced land subsidence at delta scale for the entire Mekong delta. With groundwater demand rising continuously, related subsidence rates are likely to increase further in the near future. As such, groundwater extraction-induced subsidence seriously threatens the long-term survival of the low-lying Mekong delta and should be taken into account in delta management strategies

Subsidence in the Mekong Delta; contribution of groundwater exploitation to total subsidence

The Vietnamese Mekong Delta, the third’s largest delta in the world, experiences annual subsidence rates up to several centimeters. These relative high subsidence rates outpace global sea level rise by an order of magnitude and strongly increase vulnerability of the delta to river flooding and storm surges, salinization and permanent inundation. Extraction of groundwater from the deltaic subsurface is indicated as a major driving mechanism; however the exact contribution of groundwater over-exploitation to subsidence in the Mekong delta has not been quantified yet. The objective of our study is to determine the contribution of groundwater extraction-induced subsidence to total subsidence. For this purpose we built a 3D numerical groundwater flow model of the Mekong delta and simulated the hydrological response to 25 years of groundwater exploitation. Subsequently, land subsidence caused by aquifer-system compaction due to groundwater over-exploitation was calculated using a land subsidence module. Calculated extraction-induced subsidence gradually increased over the past two decades to significant annual rates of several centimeters. Our results suggest groundwater extraction to be a dominant driver of subsidence in the Mekong delta, but leave room for other subsidence drivers, like loading and drainage. Our results are the first urgently needed quantifications of extraction-induced land subsidence at delta scale for the entire Mekong delta. With groundwater demand rising continuously, related subsidence rates are likely to increase further in the near future. As such, groundwater extraction-induced subsidence seriously threatens the long-term survival of the low-lying Mekong delta and should be taken into account in delta management strategies