Design and development of a five-bar robot for research into lower extremity proprioception

Robotica ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 298-311
Author(s):  
Lei Cui ◽  
Andy Isaac ◽  
Garry Allison
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Platform ◽  
Upright Stance ◽  
Automatic Apparatus ◽  
Ankle Inversion ◽  
Angle Change ◽  
Maximal Load ◽  
Maximal Speed ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Ankle Proprioception ◽  
Different Thickness

SUMMARYAnkle inversion is a common injury of musculoskeletal system among athletes and also in the older population. Investigation into ankle inversion requires quantitative assessment of the smallest amount of height/angle change in the floor that can be perceived by human. Blocks of different thickness have been used to change floor height manually during tests. We aimed to develop an automatic apparatus that is able to provide improved height and angle resolutions for dynamic ankle proprioception. We designed and manufactured a five-bar planar robot with one coupler serving as the mobile platform. We used a stiffening rib to achieve consistent differences in deflection across the workspace of the mobile platform. The reported robot translates at the maximal speed 423 mm/s with a resolution at 0.21 mm under a maximal load of 358 kg. This robot allows for increased sensitivity, which may lead to further investigation of functional proprioceptive ability and reflect finely tuned sensory requirements for upright stance.

Association of Age with the Threshold for Detecting Ankle Inversion and Eversion in Upright stance

1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 58-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. G. GILSING ◽  
C. G. VAN DEN BOSCH ◽  
S-G. LEE ◽  
J. A. ASHTON-MILER ◽  
N. B. ALEXANDER ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Upright Stance ◽  
Ankle Inversion

The Ultrastructure of Monkey Gingival Epithelium

1967 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
pp. 16-17
Author(s):  
C.N. Sun
Keyword(s):  
Epithelial Cells ◽  
Macaca Nemestrina ◽  
Stratum Granulosum ◽  
Solution Ph ◽  
Gingival Epithelial Cells ◽  
Stratum Spinosum ◽  
Cell Layers ◽  
Gingival Epithelium ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Different Thickness

The present study demonstrates the ultrastructure of the gingival epithelium of the pig tail monkey (Macaca nemestrina). Specimens were taken from lingual and facial gingival surfaces and fixed in Dalton's chrome osmium solution (pH 7.6) for 1 hr, dehydrated, and then embedded in Epon 812.Tonofibrils are variable in number and structure according to the different region or location of the gingival epithelial cells, the main orientation of which is parallel to the long axis of the cells. The cytoplasm of the basal epithelial cells contains a great number of tonofilaments and numerous mitochondria. The basement membrane is 300 to 400 A thick. In the cells of stratum spinosum, the tonofibrils are densely packed and increased in number (fig. 1 and 3). They seem to take on a somewhat concentric arrangement around the nucleus. The filaments may occur scattered as thin fibrils in the cytoplasm or they may be arranged in bundles of different thickness. The filaments have a diameter about 50 A. In the stratum granulosum, the cells gradually become flatted, the tonofibrils are usually thin, and the individual tonofilaments are clearly distinguishable (fig. 2). The mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum are seldom seen in these superficial cell layers.

Detection of viruses by electron microscopy: Increased sensitivity by direct micro-ultracentrifugation of samples

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 908-909
Author(s):  
Alain R. Trudel ◽  
M. Trudel
Keyword(s):  
Electron Microscopy ◽  
Fold Increase ◽  
Observation Time ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Maximum Speed ◽  
Viral Particles ◽  
Structural Details ◽  
Latex Spheres ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Size Of Particles

AirfugeR (Beckman) direct ultracentrifugation of viral samples on electron microscopy grids offers a rapid way to concentrate viral particles or subunits and facilitate their detection and study. Using the A-100 fixed angle rotor (30°) with a K factor of 19 at maximum speed (95 000 rpm), samples up to 240 μl can be prepared for electron microscopy observation in a few minutes: observation time is decreased and structural details are highlighted. Using latex spheres to calculate the increase in sensitivity compared to the inverted drop procedure, we obtained a 10 to 40 fold increase in sensitivity depending on the size of particles. This technique also permits quantification of viral particles in samples if an aliquot is mixed with latex spheres of known concentration.Direct ultracentrifugation for electron microscopy can be performed on laboratory samples such as gradient or column fractions, infected cell supernatant, or on clinical samples such as urine, tears, cephalo-rachidian liquid, etc..

Preplate neurons in embryonic mouse cortex: Ultrastructural observations using photoconversion of the fluorescent lipophilic dye dil

1992 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 906-907
Author(s):  
Linda C. Hassinger ◽  
James E. Crandall
Keyword(s):  
Mouse Embryos ◽  
Embryonic Mouse ◽  
Cortical Afferents ◽  
Mouse Cortex ◽  
Carbocyanine Dye ◽  
Increased Sensitivity

We have begun to look directly at small numbers of afferent axons to early generated neurons that form the preplate in the developing mouse cortex. The carbocyanine dye Dil (1’1, dioctadecyl-3,3,3’3’-tetramethyl-indocarbocyanine) has proved especially useful for this goal. DiI labels axons and their terminals with greater sensitivity and without some of the disadvantages of axon filling with HRP. The increased sensitivity provided by labeling embryonic axons with DiI has given us new insights into the development of cortical afferents. For instance, we reported originally that afferents from the thalamus were present below the cortex as early as embryonic day 15 (E15) based on HRP injections into mouse embryos. By using DiI placements into the thalamus in aldehyde-fixed brains, we now know that thalamic fibers reach the cortex 24 hrs earlier.

Bayesian removal of noise for increased sensitivity in vector pattern recognition lattice imaging of interfaces

1993 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 994-995
Author(s):  
L. Fei ◽  
P. Fraundorf
Keyword(s):  
Pattern Recognition ◽  
Perfect Crystal ◽  
Unit Cell ◽  
Ion Milling ◽  
Beam Radiation ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Unit Cells ◽  
Mapping Process ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Electron Microscopes

Interface structure is of major interest in microscopy. With high resolution transmission electron microscopes (TEMs) and scanning probe microscopes, it is possible to reveal structure of interfaces in unit cells, in some cases with atomic resolution. A. Ourmazd et al. proposed quantifying such observations by using vector pattern recognition to map chemical composition changes across the interface in TEM images with unit cell resolution. The sensitivity of the mapping process, however, is limited by the repeatability of unit cell images of perfect crystal, and hence by the amount of delocalized noise, e.g. due to ion milling or beam radiation damage. Bayesian removal of noise, based on statistical inference, can be used to reduce the amount of non-periodic noise in images after acquisition. The basic principle of Bayesian phase-model background subtraction, according to our previous study, is that the optimum (rms error minimizing strategy) Fourier phases of the noise can be obtained provided the amplitudes of the noise is given, while the noise amplitude can often be estimated from the image itself.

The Effect of Stapedectomy on the Loudness of One’s Own Voice

1965 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 223-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Melnick
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ear ◽  
Normal Subjects ◽  
Sound Energy ◽  
Loudness Function ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Increased Sensitivity

Five subjects with normal middle ear mechanisms, and otosclerotic patients, before and after stapedectomy, matched the loudness of their voices to the loudness of a 125-cps-sawtooth noise. The results showed loudness matching functions with gradual slopes, less than 1.00, for the normal subjects and the patients prior to stapedectomy. Post-surgically, the loudness function for the patients increased in steepness to considerably more than 1.00. These results are explained, most logically, in terms of increased sensitivity of the altered middle ear to sound energy generated by the listener’s own voice.

Modified Earpieces and CROS for High Frequency Hearing Losses

1968 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Dodds ◽  
Earl Harford
Keyword(s):  
Hearing Loss ◽  
Hearing Aids ◽  
High Frequency ◽  
Hearing Aid ◽  
Sound Field ◽  
Intensity Level ◽  
Test Results ◽  
High Frequency Hearing Loss ◽  
Increased Sensitivity ◽  
Difficult Cases

Persons with a high frequency hearing loss are difficult cases for whom to find suitable amplification. We have experienced some success with this problem in our Hearing Clinics using a specially designed earmold with a hearing aid. Thirty-five cases with high frequency hearing losses were selected from our clinical files for analysis of test results using standard, vented, and open earpieces. A statistical analysis of test results revealed that PB scores in sound field, using an average conversational intensity level (70 dB SPL), were enhanced when utilizing any one of the three earmolds. This result was due undoubtedly to increased sensitivity provided by the hearing aid. Only the open earmold used with a CROS hearing aid resulted in a significant improvement in discrimination when compared with the group’s unaided PB score under earphones or when comparing inter-earmold scores. These findings suggest that the inclusion of the open earmold with a CROS aid in the audiologist’s armamentarium should increase his flexibility in selecting hearing aids for persons with a high frequency hearing loss.

Fibrin-specificity of a Plasminogen Activator Affects the Efficiency of Fibrinolysis and Responsiveness to Ultrasound: Comparison of Nine Plasminogen Activators In Vitro

1999 ◽  
Vol 81 (04) ◽  
pp. 605-612 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmitry V. Sakharov ◽  
Marrie Barrett-Bergshoeff ◽  
Rob T. Hekkenberg ◽  
Dingeman C. Rijken
Keyword(s):  
Thrombolytic Therapy ◽  
Plasminogen Activator ◽  
Tissue Type ◽  
Bolus Administration ◽  
High Frequency Ultrasound ◽  
Single Chain ◽  
Response Curves ◽  
Maximal Speed ◽  
Frequency Ultrasound

SummaryIn a number of cases, thrombolytic therapy fails to re-open occluded blood vessels, possibly due to the occurrence of thrombi resistant to lysis. We investigated in vitro how the lysis of hardly lysable model thrombi depends on the choice of the plasminogen activator (PA) and is accelerated by ultrasonic irradiation. Lysis of compacted crosslinked human plasma clots was measured after addition of nine different PAs to the surrounding plasma and the effect of 3 MHz ultrasound on the speed of lysis was assessed.Fibrin-specific PAs showed bell-shaped dose-response curves of varying width and height. PAs with improved fibrin-specificity (staphylokinase, the TNK variant of tissue-type PA [tPA], and the PA from the saliva of the Desmodus rotundus bat) induced rapid lysis in concentration ranges (80-, 260-, and 3,500-fold ranges, respectively) much wider than that for tPA (a 35-fold range). However, in terms of speed of lysis, these three PAs exceeded tPA only slightly. Reteplase and single-chain urokinase were comparable to tPA, whereas two-chain urokinase, anistreplase, and streptokinase were inferior to tPA. In the case of fibrin-specific PAs, ultrasonic treatment accelerated lysis about 1.5-fold. For streptokinase no acceleration was observed. The effect of ultrasound correlated with the presence of plasminogen in the outer plasma, suggesting that it was mediated by facilitating the transport of plasminogen to the surface of the clot.In conclusion, PAs with improved fibrin-specificity induce rapid lysis of plasminogen-poor compacted plasma clots in much wider concentration ranges than tPA. This offers a possibility of using single-or double-bolus administration regimens for such PAs. However, it is not likely that administration of these PAs will directly cause a dramatic increase in the rate of re-opening of the occluded arteries since they are only moderately superior to tPA in terms of maximal speed of lysis. Application of high-frequency ultrasound as an adjunct to thrombolytic therapy may increase the treatment efficiency, particularly in conjunction with fibrin-specific PAs.

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