Towards a Functional Performance Validation Standard for Industrial Low-Back Exoskeletons: State of the Art Review

While the research interest for exoskeletons has been rising in the last decades, missing standards for their rigorous evaluation are potentially limiting their adoption in the industrial field. In this context, exoskeletons for worker support have the aim to reduce the physical effort required by humans, with dramatic social and economic impact. Indeed, exoskeletons can reduce the occurrence and the entity of work-related musculoskeletal disorders that often cause absence from work, resulting in an eventual productivity loss. This very urgent and multifaceted issue is starting to be acknowledged by researchers. This article provides a systematic review of the state of the art for functional performance evaluation of low-back exoskeletons for industrial workers. We report the state-of-the-art evaluation criteria and metrics used for such a purpose, highlighting the lack of a standard for this practice. Very few studies carried out a rigorous evaluation of the assistance provided by the device. To address also this topic, the article ends with a proposed framework for the functional validation of low-back exoskeletons for the industry, with the aim to pave the way for the definition of rigorous industrial standards.

Download Full-text

FedOpt: Towards Communication Efficiency and Privacy Preservation in Federated Learning

Applied Sciences ◽

10.3390/app10082864 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (8) ◽

pp. 2864 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Muhammad Asad ◽

Ahmed Moustafa ◽

Takayuki Ito

Keyword(s):

Privacy Preservation ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Homomorphic Encryption ◽

Evaluation Criteria ◽

The State ◽

Compression Algorithm ◽

Experimental Results ◽

Local Learning ◽

Learning Models ◽

Communication Efficiency

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been applied to solve various challenges of real-world problems in recent years. However, the emergence of new AI technologies has brought several problems, especially with regard to communication efficiency, security threats and privacy violations. Towards this end, Federated Learning (FL) has received widespread attention due to its ability to facilitate the collaborative training of local learning models without compromising the privacy of data. However, recent studies have shown that FL still consumes considerable amounts of communication resources. These communication resources are vital for updating the learning models. In addition, the privacy of data could still be compromised once sharing the parameters of the local learning models in order to update the global model. Towards this end, we propose a new approach, namely, Federated Optimisation (FedOpt) in order to promote communication efficiency and privacy preservation in FL. In order to implement FedOpt, we design a novel compression algorithm, namely, Sparse Compression Algorithm (SCA) for efficient communication, and then integrate the additively homomorphic encryption with differential privacy to prevent data from being leaked. Thus, the proposed FedOpt smoothly trade-offs communication efficiency and privacy preservation in order to adopt the learning task. The experimental results demonstrate that FedOpt outperforms the state-of-the-art FL approaches. In particular, we consider three different evaluation criteria; model accuracy, communication efficiency and computation overhead. Then, we compare the proposed FedOpt with the baseline configurations and the state-of-the-art approaches, i.e., Federated Averaging (FedAvg) and the paillier-encryption based privacy-preserving deep learning (PPDL) on all these three evaluation criteria. The experimental results show that FedOpt is able to converge within fewer training epochs and a smaller privacy budget.

Download Full-text

Burnout: de stand van zaken

Tijdschrift voor Arbeidsvraagstukken ◽

10.5117/2013.029.003.241 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 29 (3) ◽

Author(s):

Toon Taris ◽

Irene Houtman ◽

Wilmar Schaufeli

Keyword(s):

Work Performance ◽

Subjective Experience ◽

State Of The Art ◽

The State ◽

Related Phenomenon ◽

Related Factors ◽

Work Related ◽

Theoretical Perspectives ◽

The One

Burnout: the state of the art Burnout: the state of the art This manuscript presents an overview of the state-of-the-art in burnout research. Burnout is a work-related syndrome of extreme fatigue (exhaustion), distancing from work (cynicism), and low levels of professional efficacy, that is rooted in either the characteristics of one’s job or on individual’s way of coping with these characteristics. Being a work-related phenomenon, burnout can be distinguished from other, more general mental illness such as depression. Further, burnout and engagement can be distinguished as well.Burnout can be assessed by asking workers about their personal and subjective experience of their health. Objective ways of measuring burnout (e.g., using psychophysiological measures) have as yet not been useful. The emphasis on burnout as a work-related phenomenon is also evident from current theoretical perspectives. On the one hand, these perspectives highlight the role of work-related factors, whereas on the other hand these perspectives focus on the role of personality characteristics such as neuroticism and (over-)commitment. Burnout affects the organization as well as individual workers; it is related to elevated levels of sickness absence, a higher risk of work disability, and a lower level of work performance. Both person-directed and organization-directed interventions may affect burnout positively.

Download Full-text

Association between high fear-avoidance beliefs about physical activity and chronic disabling low back pain in nurses in Japan

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders ◽

10.1186/s12891-019-2965-6 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Tomoko Fujii ◽

Hiroyuki Oka ◽

Kenichiro Takano ◽

Fuminari Asada ◽

Takuo Nomura ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Low Back Pain ◽

Psychological Distress ◽

Back Pain ◽

Low Back ◽

Fear Avoidance ◽

Fear Avoidance Beliefs ◽

Work Related ◽

The Past ◽

Absence From Work

Abstract Background High prevalence of low back pain (LBP) in nurses has been reported globally. Ergonomic factors and work-related psychosocial factors have been focused on as risk factors. However, evidence on the role of fear-avoidance beliefs (FABs) concerning LBP in nurses is lacking. This study examined LBP prevalence and the association between FABs and chronic disabling LBP that interfered with work and lasted ≥ 3 months. Methods Female nurses (N = 3066; mean age = 35.8 ± 10.6 years) from 12 hospitals in Japan participated. A self-reported questionnaire was used to collect information on sociodemographics, LBP, work-related factors, and psychological distress. FABs about physical activity were assessed using a subscale from the FAB Questionnaire (score range = 0–24). The participants were asked to choose one of four statements regarding their LBP in the past 4 weeks: 1) I did not have LBP, 2) I had LBP without work difficulty, 3) I had LBP with work difficulty but without requiring absence from work, and 4) I had LBP requiring absence from work. If the participant had LBP in the past 4 weeks, it was also inquired if the LBP had lasted for ≥ 3 months. Chronic disabling LBP was defined as experiencing LBP with work difficulty in the past 4 weeks which had lasted for ≥ 3 months. In the nurses who had experienced any LBP in the past 4 weeks, we examined the association between FABs and experiencing chronic disabling LBP using multiple logistic regression models adjusting for pain intensity, age, body mass index, smoking status, psychological distress, hospital department, weekly work hours, night shift work, and the12 hospitals where the participants worked. Results Four-week and one-year LBP prevalence were 58.7 and 75.9%, respectively. High FABs (≥ 15) were associated with chronic disabling LBP (adjusted odds ratio = 1.76, 95% confidence interval [1.21–2.57], p = 0.003). Conclusions LBP is common among nurses in Japan. FABs about physical activity might be a potential target for LBP management in nurses. Trial registration UMIN-CTR UMIN000018087. Registered: June 25, 2015.

Download Full-text

Selecting the Right Knowledge Management Tools

Knowledge Management, Organizational Memory and Transfer Behavior ◽

10.4018/978-1-60566-140-7.ch016 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 270-280

Author(s):

Gilles Balmisse ◽

Denis Meingan ◽

Katia Passerini

Keyword(s):

Knowledge Management ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Software Industry ◽

Evaluation Criteria ◽

The State ◽

Management Tools ◽

The Right ◽

Knowledge Management Tools

In this chapter, we update earlier research on the state of the art Knowledge Management (KM) tools and present key evaluation criteria that can be used by organizations to select the applications that best meet their specific KM needs. We briefly describe tools currently available in the software industry to support different aspects of knowledge management and offer a framework for understanding how these tools are clustered based on the functionality they support.

Download Full-text

The Effects of the Nintendo Wii Exercise Program on Chronic Work-related Low Back Pain in Industrial Workers

Journal of Physical Therapy Science ◽

10.1589/jpts.25.985 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 25 (8) ◽

pp. 985-988 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Ji-Hyuk Park ◽

Sang-Heon Lee ◽

Dae-Sik Ko

Keyword(s):

Low Back Pain ◽

Back Pain ◽

Exercise Program ◽

Low Back ◽

Industrial Workers ◽

Nintendo Wii ◽

Work Related

Download Full-text

Performance evaluation criteria for preparation and measurement of macro- and microfabricated ion-selective electrodes (IUPAC Technical Report)

Pure and Applied Chemistry ◽

10.1351/pac200880010085 ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 80 (1) ◽

pp. 85-104 ◽

Cited By ~ 146

Author(s):

Ernö Lindner ◽

Yoshio Umezawa

Keyword(s):

Performance Evaluation ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Evaluation Criteria ◽

The State ◽

Ion Selective Electrodes ◽

Selectivity Coefficients ◽

Technical Report ◽

Theoretical Developments

Over the last 30 years, IUPAC published several documents with the goal of achieving standardized nomenclature and methodology for potentiometric ion-selective electrodes (ISEs). The ISE vocabulary was formulated, measurement protocols were suggested, and the selectivity coefficients were compiled. However, in light of new discoveries and experimental possibilities in the field of ISEs, some of the IUPAC recommendations have become outdated. The goal of this technical report is to direct attention to ISE practices and the striking need for updated or refined IUPAC recommendations which are consistent with the state of the art of using macro- and microfabricated planar microelectrodes. Some of these ISE practices have never been addressed by IUPAC but have gained importance with the technological and theoretical developments of recent years. In spite of its recognized importance, a generally acceptable revision of the current IUPAC recommendations is far beyond the scope of this work.

Download Full-text

Practical Picture Processing

Proceedings, annual meeting, Electron Microscopy Society of America ◽

10.1017/s0424820100051700 ◽

1974 ◽

Vol 32 ◽

pp. 338-339

Author(s):

T. A. Welton

Keyword(s):

Radiation Damage ◽

Coherence Length ◽

Spatial Information ◽

State Of The Art ◽

Coherent Radiation ◽

The State ◽

Energy Spread ◽

Electron Micrograph ◽

Picture Processing ◽

Molecular Skeleton

Various authors have emphasized the spatial information resident in an electron micrograph taken with adequately coherent radiation. In view of the completion of at least one such instrument, this opportunity is taken to summarize the state of the art of processing such micrographs. We use the usual symbols for the aberration coefficients, and supplement these with £ and 6 for the transverse coherence length and the fractional energy spread respectively. He also assume a weak, biologically interesting sample, with principal interest lying in the molecular skeleton remaining after obvious hydrogen loss and other radiation damage has occurred.

Download Full-text