"Hybrid-PLEMO", Rehabilitation System for Upper Limbs with Active / Passive Force Feedback Mode

Non

Quasi-3 DOF Rehabilitation System for Upper Limbs, “PLEMO”

Non

Bioinspired Knee Joint for a Power-Assist Suit

Movement of the knee joint of a human includes rolling and sliding. There also exist rotations in the frontal and horizontal planes. To assist the standing movement of a human, we developed a bioinspired knee joint and torque adjustment mechanism. We evaluated the motion, torque characteristics, and stress of the developed mechanism. This joint allows deep flexion of the knee with small resistance for both the user and the device. In addition, in spite of 33% error in deep flexion, the measured torque over less than 120 degrees fits the designed torque curve. We conducted evaluation tests for a human subject. The electromyogram (EMG) of musculus rectus femoris was measured during standing with or without the assistance. The result shows 30% and 63% reduction with the assistance from 100-degree and 80-degree knee angles, respectively. In addition, the proposed device reduced up to 80% of stress in the frontal plane during standing

Clonal Diversity of the Expression of MHC Class I Antigens. and Endogenous Retroviral Antigens on the Oncogene-Induced Cell Transformation of BALB3T3 Cells-Different Regulatory Mechanisms for the Expression of Antigens

The effect of the activated oncogene transfection on the expression of MHC class I H-2Kd, Dd and Ld and endogenous retroviral antigens was analyzed on 21 clones independently derived from the same parental BALB3T3. These clones were obtained by transfecting BALB3T3 with EJ-ras, PyMT, c-myc, and v-src oncogenes. The expression of MHC class I H-2Ld and H-2Kd antigens was reduced in clones with high anchorage independent growth potential. However, clones with low or no anchorage independent growth potential displayed almost the same degree of expression as parental BALB3T3. The H-2Dd antigen was for the most part conserved. The reduced expression of H-2Kd antigen was com-pletely restored by IFN treatment, whereas that of H-2Ld antigen was only par-tially restored. Meanwhile, MuLV and MMTV antigens were expressed on parental BALB3T3. These antigens was down-modulated in all of the EJ-ras and in one of the v-src-transfected clones. However, all the PyMT-transfected clones expressed the antigens as much as parental BALB3T3 even in the clones with high anchorage independent growth potential. These data suggest that the MHC class I antigen expression is modulated with the transforming process of cells, whereas the endogenous retroviral antigen expression might be dependent upon the transfected oncogenes rather than the transforming phenotype of the cells

Bioinspired Knee Joint for a Power-Assist Suit

Movement of the knee joint of a human includes rolling and sliding. There also exist rotations in the frontal and horizontal planes. To assist the standing movement of a human, we developed a bioinspired knee joint and torque adjustment mechanism. We evaluated the motion, torque characteristics, and stress of the developed mechanism. This joint allows deep flexion of the knee with small resistance for both the user and the device. In addition, in spite of 33% error in deep flexion, the measured torque over less than 120 degrees fits the designed torque curve. We conducted evaluation tests for a human subject. The electromyogram (EMG) of musculus rectus femoris was measured during standing with or without the assistance. The result shows 30% and 63% reduction with the assistance from 100-degree and 80-degree knee angles, respectively. In addition, the proposed device reduced up to 80% of stress in the frontal plane during standing

Elastic Properties of Magnetorheological Elastomers in a Heterogeneous Uniaxial Magnetic Field

Magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) are stimulus-responsive soft materials that consist of polymeric matrices and magnetic particles. In this study, large-strain response of MREs with 5 vol % of carbonyl iron (CI) particles is experimentally characterized for two different conditions: (1) shear deformation in a uniform magnetic field; and (2), compression in a heterogeneous uniaxial magnetic field. For condition (1), dynamic viscoelastic measurements were performed using a rheometer with a rotor disc and an electric magnet that generated a uniform magnetic field on disc-like material samples. For condition (2), on the other hand, three permanent magnets with different surface flux densities were used to generate a heterogeneous uniaxial magnetic field under cylindrical material samples. The experimental results were mathematically modeled, and the relationship between them was investigated. We also used finite-element method (FEM) software to estimate the uniaxial distributions of the magnetic field in the analyzed MREs for condition (2), and developed mathematical models to describe these phenomena. By using these practicable techniques, we established a simple macroscale model of the elastic properties of MREs under simple compression. We estimated the elastic properties of MREs in the small-strain regime (neo–Hookean model) and in the large-strain regime (Mooney–Rivlin model). The small-strain model explains the experimental results for strains under 5%. On the other hand, the large-strain model explains the experimental results for strains above 10%

Azimuthal angle distributions of neutrons emitted from the 9Be(γ,n) reaction with linearly polarized γ-rays

The electromagnetic transitions of 9Be with linearly polarized γ-rays are calculated by using the α + α + n three-body model and the complex-scaled solutions of the Lippmann-Schwinger equation; the azimuthal angle distributions of the emitted neutrons are investigated. We calculatethe anisotropy parameter as a function of the photon incident energy Eγ, and discuss how sensitive the anisotropy parameter is to nuclear structure and transition modes. The result suggests that the azimuthal angle distribution of neutrons emitted from the 9Be(γ,n) reaction with the linearly polarized γ-rays is useful to identify the resonances in the final states even if it is not clearly observed in the cross section