Assistant force compensation for hand movement of patients by using exogenous signals and/or neurophysiological signals

Because functional diseases of the brain can cause disabilities related to human movement control, a compensation method was developed for improving the performance of hand movements. The compensation for human hand movements can be carried out by adding an assistant force that is generated from artificial equipment attached to a human arm. From the experiment on visual target tracking, it was found that the tracking trajectory was adequately represented by a dynamic model of the motion of an articulated industrial robot arm, and the different abilities for movement control among healthy people and patients were classified by different model parameters as position loop gain, velocity loop gain, and response delay. Dynamic force compensation was approached by considering the different control features of the patients. The effectiveness of the proposed compensation method was verified in a simulation study on an actual industrial robot arm. A human-machine interface, e.g., a brain-computer interface (BCI), for realizing the control of artificial equipment to compensate for human hand movements is also presented and discussed.     

MOCVD preparation of SBTN thin films from two organometallic sources bottles

Abstract

SrBi₂(Ta_0.7Nb_0.3)₂O₉ (SBTN) films were first prepared on (111)Pt/Ti/SiO₂/Si substrates by MOCVD from only two organometallic source bottles. Bi(CH₃)₃ and the mixture of Sr[Ta(O°C₂H₅)₆]₂ and Sr[Nb(O°C₂H₅)₆]₂ were used as source materials. High compositional reproducibility was obtained; the Nb/(Ta+Nb) ratio was the same as the mixing ratio of the source. Sr/(Ta+Nb) and Bi/(Ta+Nb) ratios can be controlled by the reactor pressure and the input gas flow rate ratio of the source gases. Almost single phase of SBTN was obtained for the film deposited at 500°C and the following heat-treated at 800°C in O₂ atmosphere. Pr and Ec values of 330 nm-thick SBTN film were 8.5 μC/cm² and 91 kV/cm, respectively and were larger than those of SrBi₂Ta₂O₉ film. There was no degradation after 5x10¹⁰ cycles polarization switching.     

东京电力公司采用特高压输电技术的论证经过

东京电力公司(Tokyo Electric Power Company,TEPCO)在20世纪90年代建成了1000kV南北输电线路和1000kV东西输电线路.文中介绍了日本选择特高压输电技术的经过和TEPCO采用特高压输电的必要性,指出了选择特高压交流最高运行电压时应考虑的因素;还对交流输电方式和直流输电方式进行了比较,分析了直流输电方式存在的问题,说明了TEPCO在特高压输电中采用交流输电方式的原因.对中国发展特高压输电有一定的借鉴意义.     

Double-action bending for eliminating springback in hat-shaped bending of advanced high-strength steel sheet

The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology - This paper presents a novel technology called ‘double-action bending (DAB)’ to eliminate springback in hat-shape forming...     

基于媒体独立切换并提供QoS保证的跨UMTS和WiMAX无线异构网络的网络切换方案

The rapid growth and innovation of the various mobile communication technologies have caused a change in the paradigm of internet access. Wireless technologies such as WiMAX, WiFi and UMTS/LTE networks have shown great potential in dominating the wireless access markets. The existence of various access technologies requires a means for seamless internetworking to provide anywhere, anytime services without interruption in the ongoing session, especially in multimedia applications with rigid Quality of Services (QoS) requirements. The IEEE 802.21 Media Independent Handover (MIH) working group was formed to develop a set of mechanisms under a standard framework with the capability to support migration of mobile users across heterogeneous networks. Therefore, the implementation of handover is extremely important in the heterogeneous network environment. In order to guarantee various QoS requirements during handover execution especially in multimedia applications, in this paper we propose a novel MIH-based capacity estimation algorithm to execute handover with QoS provision supporting both horizontal and vertical handovers across UMTS and WiMAX networks. Simulation shows that the proposed mechanism achieves lower call dropping rate (highest approximate 3% ) and higher system throughput (average 92% ) than the basic handover method does.     

Manipulation of micro solid particles and induced flows in water by laser irradiation

Q-switch for pulsing laser beam and Galvano scanner for rapid scanning laser beam were adapted to manipulatemicro solid particles in a water droplet.The trapping of fine particles at micron-sized diameters by a YAG lasersystem,induced flows,and the induced motion of the particles by laser beam irradiations are discussed.Particlerotations are observed by using anisotropic micro objects,and moreover the rotational rate with clockwise direc-tion is 22 r/min.The fragments of a cover glass were mixed in a water droplet,and their size and shape are un-even.The rotation of that non-spheres without scanning by the Galvano scanner is also observed in water.     

Uterine Deletion of Bmal1 Impairs Placental Vascularization and Induces Intrauterine Fetal Death in Mice

Recently, it was demonstrated that the expression of BMAL1 was decreased in the endometrium of women suffering from recurrent spontaneous abortion. To investigate the pathological roles of uterine clock genes during pregnancy, we produced conditional deletion of uterine Bmal1 (cKO) mice and found that cKO mice could receive embryo implantation but not sustain pregnancy. Gene ontology analysis of microarray suggested that uterine NK (uNK) cell function was suppressed in cKO mice. Histological examination revealed the poor formation of maternal vascular spaces in the placenta. In contrast to WT mice, uNK cells in the spongiotrophoblast layer, where maternal uNK cells are directly in contact with fetal trophoblast, hardly expressed an immunosuppressive NK marker, CD161, in cKO mice. By progesterone supplementation, pregnancy could be sustained until the end of pregnancy in some cKO mice. Although this treatment did not improve the structural abnormalities of the placenta, it recruited CD161-positive NK cells into the spongiotrophoblast layer in cKO mice. These findings indicate that the uterine clock system may be critical for pregnancy maintenance after embryo implantation.     

A Low-Loss Built-In Current Sensor

This paper presents a novel built-in current sensor that uses two additional power supply voltages besides the system power supply voltage, and that is constructed by using a current mirror circuit to pick up an abnormal IDDQ. It is activated only by an abnormal quiescent power supply current and minimizes the voltage drop at the terminal of the circuit under test. Simulation results showed that it could detect 16-A IDDQ against 0.03-V voltage drop at 3.3-V VDD and that it reduced performance degradation in the circuit under test. It is therefore suitable for testing low-voltage integrated circuits. Moreover, we verified the behavior of the sensor circuit implemented on the board by using discrete devices. Experimental results showed that the real circuit of the sensor functioned properly.     

The Main Progress of Perovskite Solar Cells in 2020–2021

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) emerging as a promising photovoltaic technology with high efficiency and low manufacturing cost have attracted the attention from ...     

Performance evaluation of a visual management system for effective case transfer

Visual management (VM) has become an important management tool for the smooth management of global supply chains. The target of VM systems is to harmonise communication. For example, in the production sector, VM provides solutions for various issues such as the quick detection of an abnormal situation, continuous maintenance of a safe environment, prevention of an operation miss and knowledge sharing. However, the development of VM cases has been uncontrolled, which is considered problematic. A system for the strategic enhancement of VM is necessary. Recognising this need, this study presents a model for the performance evaluation of relevant cases and validates the utility of the model, which is the initial step in developing a strategic enhancement system for VM.