Behind the Scenes of the BPMN Extension Mechanism - Principles, Problems and Options for Improvement

Design, modeling, and demonstration of a new dual-mode back-assist exosuit with extension mechanism

Wearable Technologies ◽

10.1017/wtc.2021.1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 2 ◽

Author(s):

Erik P. Lamers ◽

Karl E. Zelik

Keyword(s):

Biomechanical Model ◽

Mode Switching ◽

Design Parameters ◽

Dual Mode ◽

Extension Mechanism ◽

Body Forces ◽

Low Profile ◽

Military Healthcare ◽

The Moment ◽

Practical Factors

Abstract Occupational exoskeletons and exosuits have been shown to reduce muscle demands and fatigue for physical tasks relevant to a variety of industries (e.g., logistics, construction, manufacturing, military, healthcare). However, adoption of these devices into the workforce has been slowed by practical factors related to comfort, form-factor, weight, and not interfering with movement or posture. We previously introduced a low-profile, dual-mode exosuit comprised of textile and elastic materials to address these adoption barriers. Here we build upon this prior work by introducing an extension mechanism that increases the moment arm of the exosuit while in engaged mode, then collapses in disengaged mode to retain key benefits related to being lightweight, low-profile, and unobstructive. Here we demonstrate both analytically and empirically how this extensible exosuit concept can (a) reduce device-to-body forces (which can improve comfort for some users and situations), or (b) increase the magnitude of torque assistance about the low back (which may be valuable for heavy-lifting jobs) without increasing shoulder or leg forces relative to the prior form-fitting exosuit. We also introduce a novel mode-switching mechanism, as well as a human-exosuit biomechanical model to elucidate how individual design parameters affect exosuit assistance torque and device-to-body forces. The proof-of-concept prototype, case study, and modeling work provide a foundation for understanding and implementing extensible exosuits for a broad range of applications. We envision promising opportunities to apply this new dual-mode extensible exosuit concept to assist heavy-lifting, to further enhance user comfort, and to address the unique needs of last-mile and other delivery workers.

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In vivo stiffness assessment of patellar and quadriceps tendons by strain ultrasound elastography

Bio-Medical Materials and Engineering ◽

10.3233/bme-206016 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Surangika Wadugodapitiya ◽

Makoto Sakamoto ◽

Sayaka Suzuki ◽

Yusuke Morise ◽

Koichi Kobayashi

Keyword(s):

Knee Flexion ◽

Quadriceps Tendon ◽

Strain Ratio ◽

Ultrasound Elastography ◽

Return To Sports ◽

Target Tissue ◽

Relative Stiffness ◽

Extension Mechanism ◽

Significant Difference

BACKGROUND: The patellar and quadriceps tendons are responsible for the extension mechanism of the knee joint and frequently become inflamed during sports. Diagnosis and determination of when an athlete can return to sports following these injuries are usually performed by assessing morphological features and functional outcomes. Nevertheless, mechanical properties are not being assessed. OBJECTIVE: To describe the stiffness characteristics of these two tendons over the range of knee flexion and to test the feasibility of using strain ultrasound elastography (SE). METHODS: SE with an acoustic coupler as the reference was performed for nine healthy males. Relative stiffness measurements were obtained using the strain ratio (SR = target tissue strain/reference strain) by placing the knee in five different flexion angles. Lower SR indicates higher relative stiffness. RESULTS: This study showed reliable measurement with good intra- and inter-rater agreement for SR at 30°. SR of the quadriceps tendon decreases as knee flexion increases, indicating increased relative stiffness. In the patellar tendon, no significant difference was observed between 30° and 60°. Beyond 60°, relative stiffness increased constantly. CONCLUSIONS: SE is a reproducible and feasible tool to monitor relative stiffness of the patellar and quadriceps tendons in routine clinical settings.

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Mechanism reliability and sensitivity analysis of landing gear under multiple failure modes

Xibei Gongye Daxue Xuebao/Journal of Northwestern Polytechnical University ◽

10.1051/jnwpu/20213910046 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 39 (1) ◽

pp. 46-54

Author(s):

Changcong Zhou ◽

Mengyao Ji ◽

Yishang Zhang ◽

Fuchao Liu ◽

Haodong Zhao

Keyword(s):

Failure Probability ◽

Failure Modes ◽

Kriging Model ◽

Landing Gear ◽

Multiple Failure Modes ◽

Analysis And Design ◽

Extension System ◽

Extension Mechanism ◽

Assembly Error ◽

Adaptive Kriging

For a certain type of aircraft landing gear retraction-extension mechanism, a multi-body dynamic simulation model is established, and the time-dependent curves of force and angle are obtained. Considering the random uncertainty of friction coefficient, assembly error, and the change of hinge wear under different retraction times, the reliability model is built including three failure modes of landing gear, i.e. blocking failure, positioning failure and accuracy failure. Based on the adaptive Kriging model, the reliability and sensitivity of retraction-extension system under the condition of single failure mode and multiple failure modes in series are analyzed, and the rule of reliability and sensitivity changing with the number of operations is given. The results show that the system failure probability of landing gear mechanism tends to decrease first and then increase when considering the given information of random factors, and the influences of random factors on the failure probability vary with the number of operations. This work provides a viable tool for the reliability analysis and design of landing gear mechanisms.

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CyTargetLinker app update: A flexible solution for network extension in Cytoscape

F1000Research ◽

10.12688/f1000research.14613.2 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 7 ◽

pp. 743 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Martina Kutmon ◽

Friederike Ehrhart ◽

Egon L. Willighagen ◽

Chris T. Evelo ◽

Susan L. Coort

Keyword(s):

Interaction Network ◽

Use Cases ◽

Gene Pathway ◽

Protein Protein Interaction ◽

Link Type ◽

Extension Mechanism ◽

Custom Made ◽

Command Line Tool ◽

Biological Domain ◽

Repeatability And Reproducibility

Here, we present an update of the open-source CyTargetLinker app for Cytoscape (http://apps.cytoscape.org/apps/cytargetlinker) that introduces new automation features. CyTargetLinker provides a simple interface to extend networks with links to relevant data and/or knowledge extracted from so-called linksets. The linksets are provided on the CyTargetLinker website (https://cytargetlinker.github.io/) or can be custom-made for specific use cases. The new automation feature enables users to programmatically execute the app’s functionality in Cytoscape (command line tool) and with external tools (e.g. R, Jupyter, Python, etc). This allows users to share their analysis workflows and therefore increase repeatability and reproducibility. Three use cases demonstrate automated workflows, combinations with other Cytoscape apps and core Cytoscape functionality. We first extend a protein-protein interaction network created with the stringApp, with compound-target interactions and disease-gene annotations. In the second use case, we created a workflow to load differentially expressed genes from an experimental dataset and extend it with gene-pathway associations. Lastly, we chose an example outside the biological domain and used CyTargetLinker to create an author-article-journal network for the five authors of this manuscript using a two-step extension mechanism. With 400 downloads per month in the last year and nearly 20,000 downloads in total, CyTargetLinker shows the adoption and relevance of the app in the field of network biology. In August 2019, the original publication was cited in 83 articles demonstrating the applicability in biomedical research.

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Rehabilitation Machine for Bariatric Individuals

Machines ◽

10.3390/machines8030045 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 45

Author(s):

Andrea Botta ◽

Paride Cavallone ◽

Luca Carbonari ◽

Carmen Visconte ◽

Giuseppe Quaglia

Keyword(s):

Muscle Tone ◽

Physical Exertion ◽

World Health ◽

Upper Body ◽

Obese People ◽

Leg Extension ◽

Extension Mechanism ◽

Physical Exercises ◽

Wide Range ◽

Health Organization

Obesity is known to be growing worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that obesity has tripled since 1975. In 2016, 39% of adults over 18 years old were overweight, and 13% were obese. Obesity is mostly preventable by adopting lifestyle improvements, enhancing diet quality, and doing physical exercise. The workload of the physical exercises should be proportionate to the patient’s capabilities. However, it must be considered that obese people are not used to training; they may not endure physical exertion and, even more critically, they could have some psychological impediments to the workouts. Physical exercises and equipment must, therefore, guarantee comfort and prevent situations in which the bariatric individual may feel inadequate. For these reasons, this study aims to design an innovative system to approach simple physical activities, like leg and arm exercises, to bariatric users to enable them to recover mobility and muscle tone gradually. The leading feature of this architecture is the design of hidden exercise mechanisms to overcome the psychological barriers of the users toward these kinds of machines. This paper proposes the initial design of the main sub-systems composing the rehabilitation machine, namely the leg curl and leg extension mechanism and its control architecture, the upper body exercises system, and a series of regulation mechanisms required to accommodate a wide range of users. The proposed functional design will then lead to the development of a prototype to validate the machine.

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Extension Mechanism of the Proximal Interphalangeal Joint of the Human Phalanx: A Cadaveric Biomechanical Study

BioMed Research International ◽

10.1155/2020/7585976 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 2020 ◽

pp. 1-5

Author(s):

Junho Park ◽

Chang-Hun Lee ◽

Youngjin Choi ◽

Il-Han Joo ◽

Kwang-Hyun Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Joint Angle ◽

Proximal Interphalangeal Joint ◽

Biomechanical Study ◽

Regression Analyses ◽

Absolute Value ◽

Extension Mechanism ◽

Fresh Cadaver ◽

Pip Joint ◽

Joint Flexion ◽

The Mean

Our purpose was to compare the contributions of these two systems to assess PIP joint extension in fresh cadaver models. Nine middle fingers of fresh cadavers were used. The PIP joint angle was measured while an extension load was applied on the extensor tendons. Specimens on which extension load was applied on the extrinsic extensors were classified as the extrinsic group, and those on which extension load was applied on the intrinsic extensors were classified as the intrinsic group. Linear regression analyses were performed to obtain regression equation and the extension load-PIP joint angle curve. The mean of slope of the curve was compared between the two groups using paired t-test. The same experiments were done for the metacarpophalangeal (MP) joint in 0° and 60° flexion to evaluate the effect of MP joint flexion on PIP joint extension. The mean slope of the extension load-PIP joint angle curve of the extrinsic group was significantly greater than that of the intrinsic group. With the MP joint in 0° flexion, the mean slope of the extrinsic and intrinsic groups was -0.148 and -0.117, respectively (greater absolute value means greater slope, p=0.01). With the MP joint in 60° flexion, the mean slopes were -0.147 and -0.104, respectively (p=0.015). The contribution of the intrinsic extensor for PIP joint extension shows decreasing trends with MP joint flexion. The extrinsic extensors have greater contribution for PIP joint extension compared with the intrinsic extensors.

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Use of UML Stereotypes in Business Models

UML and the Unified Process ◽

10.4018/978-1-93177-744-5.ch013 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 262-272 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Daniel Brandon Jr.

Keyword(s):

Business Models ◽

System Construction ◽

Business Systems ◽

The Core ◽

Extension Mechanism ◽

Design Drawing

This chapter presents some particularly useful UML stereotypes for use in business systems. Stereotypes are the core extension mechanism of UML. If you find that you need a modeling element or information extension to an element that is not in UML but it is similar to something that is, you treat your addition/extension as a stereotype. These new stereotypes are defined and the need for them is discussed. The stereotypes aid in both the design/drawing phase and in the implementation (coding) phase of the overall system construction. An example case study illustrates their usage with both design drawings and the implementation code (C++).

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