SAMMIE: an ergonomics CAD system for vehicle design and evaluation

SAMMIE (System for Aiding Man-Machine Interaction Evaluation) is a CAD system which enables the ergonomics/human factors evaluation of vehicle designs to commence at the earliest stages of the design process. Evaluations of postural comfort and the occupants' clearances, reach and vision should be undertaken from the concept stage when design modifications are easier and cheaper to implement than at the pre-production stage. In order to achieve this, the package offers 3D modelling of vehicles and their occupants. Details of the package and its application to vehicle design are presented

Computer graphics standards for man modelling

The human being is arguably one of the most nonstandard and unpredictable components of all systems. Thus, in many application areas of computer-aided design, there is a need to model the physical aspects of humans alongside models of workplace and equipment. The paper briefly describes the Sammie systems, a long-established and succesful computer-aided design system that has fulfilled this requirement across a wide range of application areas. Recently, much development work has been aimed at incorporating a range of graphics and data-exchange standards into the Sammie software. These experiences are described, together with observations on their apparent limitations and advantages. In particular, the Programmer's Hierarchical Interactive Graphics System (Phigs), its extension to Phigs-Plus, the Computer Graphics Metafile (CGM), the Initial Graphics Exchange Specification (iges), and X-Windows with the Phigs extension (Pex) are considered

Computer workspace modelling

Computer aided design (CAD) methods are becoming very popular with engineers as they provide considerably more flexibility than conventional techniques. Although they are now commonplace in manufacturing industries the great majority of CAD systems completely ignore the most important component of the human-machine system being designed-humans themselves. The importance of an ergonomics input to a design is now recognized by many industries as being essential. The increasing complexity of modern systems and the social, economic and legislative pressures for good design have led to the demand for the ergonomics input to be made available as early as possible in the design programme, starting preferably at the concept stage. Traditionally, ergonomists have had to wait until the mock-up stage before being able to perform a detailed evaluation of a prototype design. This delay has several consequences, which will be discussed later in this chapter, all of which are detrimental to the design process

Dual Requirement for Yeast hnRNP Nab2p in mRNA poly(A) Tail Length Control and Nuclear Export

Recent studies of mRNA export factors have provided additional evidence for a mechanistic link between mRNA 3′‐end formation and nuclear export. Here, we identify Nab2p as a nuclear poly(A)‐binding protein required for both poly(A) tail length control and nuclear export of mRNA. Loss of NAB2 expression leads to hyperadenylation and nuclear accumulation of poly(A)+ RNA but, in contrast to mRNA export mutants, these defects can be uncoupled in a nab2 mutant strain. Previous studies have implicated the cytoplasmic poly(A) tail‐binding protein Pab1p in poly(A) tail length control during polyadenylation. Although cells are viable in the absence of NAB2 expression when PAB1 is overexpressed, Pab1p fails to resolve the nab2Δ hyperadenylation defect even when Pab1p is tagged with a nuclear localization sequence and targeted to the nucleus. These results indicate that Nab2p is essential for poly(A) tail length control in vivo, and we demonstrate that Nab2p activates polyadenylation, while inhibiting hyperadenylation, in the absence of Pab1p in vitro. We propose that Nab2p provides an important link between the termination of mRNA polyadenylation and nuclear export

Computer aided ergonomics design of automobiles

Computer aided ergonomics design of automobile

Applications of the SAMMIE CAD system in workplace design

Computer Aided Design (CAD) is now firmly established in some industries as the normal method of originating and evaluating designs. Thus in aerospace it would be normal to have computer representations of proposed aircraft long before mock-ups or prototypes are available for functional evaluation. This implies that many aspects of the design may be finalised before there is any opportunity to carry out ergonomics evaluations of the work space or work tasks which will eventually confront the operator. Other industries are not so advanced in using computers in design, but would benefit from the ability to carry out ergonomics evaluations early in the design process. It is natural therefore to look for CAD systems which have the capability of considering human as well as mechanical, structural or other aspects of design. SAMMIE. System for Aiding Man-Machine Interaction Evaluation, is one such system which has been used in this way for some years. It assists in the building of a computer model of the workplace which can be viewed and manipulated on a graphics screen in ways which will be familiar to users of modern three-dimensional solid modelling systems. In addition. and most importantly, it includes a model of the human operator which is used as an evaluative tool. This paper very briefly describes the characteristics of SAMMIE but concentrates on describing applications of the technique to workplace design. In the main these applications originate from design consultancy carried out in recent years, and include supermarket checkout facilities, visibility studies in underground trains, and a machine shop environment

Computer aided ergonomics and workspace design

Computer aided ergonomics and workspace desig

Antibody Binding to CD4 Induces Rac GTPase Activation and Alters T Cell Migration

The use of nondepleting Ab specific for CD4 and CD8 is an effective strategy to tolerize CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in a tissue-specific manner. We reported that coreceptor therapy reverses diabetes in new onset NOD mice. A striking feature of coreceptor-induced remission is the purging of T cells from the pancreatic lymph nodes (PLN) and islets of NOD mice. Evidence indicates that Ab binding to the coreceptors promotes T cell egress from these tissues. The current study examined how coreceptor therapy affects the migration of CD4+ T cells residing in the PLN of NOD mice. αCD4 Ab treatment resulted in an increased frequency of PLN but not splenic CD4+ T cells that exhibited a polarized morphology consistent with a migratory phenotype. Furthermore, PLN CD4+ T cells isolated from αCD4 versus control Ab-treated animals displayed increased in vitro chemotaxis to chemoattractants such as sphingosine-1-phosphate and CXCL12. Notably, the latter was dependent on activation of the small Rho GTPases Rac1 and Rac2. Rac1 and Rac2 activation was increased in Ab-bound CD4+ T cells from the PLN but not the spleen, and knockdown of Rac expression blocked the heightened reactivity of Ab-bound PLN CD4+ T cells to CXCL12. Interestingly, Rac1 and Rac2 activation was independent of Rac guanine nucleotide exchange factors known to regulate T cell activity. Therefore, Ab binding to CD4 initiates a novel pathway that involves inflammation-dependent activation of Rac, and establishment of altered T cell migratory properties