Exoskeletons and Exosuits Could Benefit from Mode-Switching Body Interfaces That Loosen/Tighten to Improve Thermal Comfort

Exoskeletons and exosuits (exos) are wearable devices that physically assist movement. User comfort is critically important for societal adoption of exos. Thermal comfort (a person’s satisfaction with their thermal environment) represents a key design challenge. Exos must physically attach/interface to the body to apply forces, and these interfaces inevitably trap some heat. It is envisioned that thermal comfort could be improved by designing mode-switching exo interfaces that temporarily loosen around a body segment when assistive forces are not being applied. To inform exo design, a case series study (N = 4) based on single-subject design principles was performed. Our objective was to assess individual responses to skin temperature and thermal comfort during physical activity with a Loose leg-sleeve interface compared with a Form-Fitting one, and immediately after a Form-Fitting sleeve switched to Loose. Skin under the Loose sleeve was 2–3 °C (4–6 °F) cooler after 25 min of physical activity, and two of four participants reported the Loose sleeve improved their thermal comfort. After completion of the physical activity, the Form-Fitting sleeve was loosened, causing a 2–4 °C (3–8 °F) drop in skin temperature underneath for all participants, and two participants to report slightly improved thermal comfort. These findings confirmed that an exo that can quickly loosen its interface when assistance is not required—and re-tighten when it is— has the potential to enhance thermal comfort for some individuals and environments. More broadly, this study demonstrates that mode-switching mechanisms in exos can do more than adjust physical assistance: they can also exploit thermodynamics and facilitate thermoregulation in a way that enhances comfort for exo users.

Investigation of Regression-Based Effect Size Methods Developed in Single-Subject Studies

The purpose of this study is to provide a brief introduction to effect size calculation in single-subject design studies, including a description of nonparametric and regression-based effect sizes. We then focus the rest of the tutorial on common regression-based methods used to calculate effect size in single-subject experimental studies. We start by first describing the difference between five regression-based methods (Gorsuch, White et al., Center et al., Allison and Gorman, Huitema and McKean). This is followed by an example using the five regression-based effect size methods and a demonstration how these methods can be applied using a sample data set. In this way, the question of how the values obtained from different effect size methods differ was answered. The specific regression models used in these five regression-based methods and how these models can be obtained from the SPSS program were shown. R2 values obtained from these five methods were converted to Cohen’s d value and compared in this study. The d values obtained from the same data set were estimated as 0.003, 0.357, 2.180, 3.470, and 2.108 for the Allison and Gorman, Gorsuch, White et al., Center et al., as well as for Huitema and McKean methods, respectively. A brief description of selected statistical programs available to conduct regression-based methods was given.

Efektivitas Art Therapy Sebagai Katarsis untuk Mengurangi Tingkat Kecemasan Akademik pada Remaja

Remaja memiliki masalah emosi yang berbeda-beda dan cara menyikapi permasalahan sesuai dengan karakteristik kepribadian masing-masing. Individu yang memiliki karakteristik introvert cenderung menyimpan setiap permasalahannya, sehingga menimbulkan berbagai dampak. Salah satu dampaknya adalah mengalami kecemasan baik dalam akademik maupun lainnya. Praktikan membantu melakukan katarsis dengan terapi menggambar dan memberikan psikoedukasi untuk keluarga klien. Metode penelitian ini menggunakan single subject design. Terdapat tiga fase yang dilakukan dalam melalukan intervensi, yaitu fase base line dalam menentukan perilaku yang akan di intervensi, fase intervensi dan terakhir fase baseline evaluasi. Teknik pengumpulan data yang digunakan peneliti dalam penelitian ini adalah metode wawancara (autoanamnesa dan alloanamnesa), observasi, dan tes psikologi yaitu WAIS dan Grafis. Peneliti menggunakan Kuesioner TMAS (Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale) untuk mengukur tingkat kecemasan sebelum dan sesudah pemberian terapi. Klien dalam penelitian ini adalah remaja perempuan berusia 14 tahun yang mengalami gangguan kecemasan. Intervensi atau terapi dilakukan selama 9 hari, setiap harinya terapi dilakukan selama 3 jam. Hasil intervensi yang dilakukan menunjukan perubahan perilaku sebelum dan sesudah diberikan intervensi. Sebelum intervensi klien selalu memendam masalahnya sendiri, ia kurang dapat mengungkapkan apa yang ia rasakan dan inginkan, sehingga masalah tersebut menumpuk dan keluar dalam bentuk kecemasan terutama yang tampak adalah kecemasan akademik. Setelah melakukan intervensi klien menjadi lebih tenang ketika akan menghadapi ujian atau atau pelajaran disekolahnya dan klien menyadari bahwa bercerita/berkomunikasi dengan orang lain dapat meringankan beban dipikirannya

Intensive Training with Virtual Reality on Mobility in Adolescents with Cerebral Palsy—Single Subject Design

Purpose: To evaluate the effects of a short-term intensive virtual reality intervention in adolescents with cerebral palsy (CP). Methods: Single-subject design, type A–B-follow-up, with four participants (P) with CP, 15–18 years, GMFCS level II. A two-week intervention phase was performed with twelve Nintendo® Wii games in six sessions (90 min) per week. Outcome variables were semi-static balance (Pressure Center Oscillation—PCO), gait speed (Ten Meter Walk Test at usual speed—TMWT-U; and fast speed—TMWT-F), mobility (Timed Up and Go test—TUG), endurance (sit-to-stand test 5 times—STS-5), and gross motor activity (Gross Motor Function Measure—GMFM). Results: Statistical improvements were observed in GMFM-D (P2–P3), TMWT-F (P2–P3–P4) and TMWT-U (P2), STS-5 (P3–P4), TUG (P3), and PCO (P2–P3), assessed by level, trend, latency, and visual inspection to analyze change. Conclusions: This study shows that a short-term intensive intervention using Nintendo® Wii-based games in adolescents, GMFCS level II, can be an effective therapy, leading to some recovery of functioning in these young people.

Construction of a Therapy program targeting Expressive language in non verbal autistic children

Background Some autistic children remain non verbal even after receiving multiple interventions. There is no obvious cause can explain failure of those autistic children who have adequate cognitive ability and communicative intent to acquire spoken language, except childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) that is treated differently than autism. Little is written about specific therapy programs that apply CAS treatment strategies to promote speech production for non verbal autistic children. Purpose The aim of this work is to detect the effectiveness of a therapy program targeting expressive language for non verbal autistic children by applying CAS treatment strategies. Methods pre – post single subject design in which each child acts as his or her own control. All the twenty children included in the study had been received previous language therapy at least for 6 months before the starting of the study with no improvement in verbal output. Results Of the twenty children enrolled in this study, eighteen children developed spoken language at least multiple single words used both during therapy session and at home. Conclusion a structured conversational language therapy program that apply CAS treatment strategies can help non verbal autistic children to acquire expressive language.

Efektivitas functional communication training dalam meningkatkan perilaku meminta pada anak dengan autism spectrum disorder

The current study aims to examine the effectiveness of functional communication training to increase asking behavior by exchanging pictures for children with an autism spectrum disorder. The participant in this study is a 6-years old girl with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder with Intellectual Impairment. This study uses a single-subject design consisting of A-B-A phases. Functional communication training is implemented using the most-to-least prompting technique which is divided into 8 sessions. The result depicts that 84% of participants increase their ability to perform requesting behavior by exchanging pictures of the trials given. Furthermore, after the implementation of functional communication training, there is an increase in the frequency of requesting behavior by exchanging pictures at post-test (average 74%) and at follow-up (average 82%). Implications of this study indicate the importance of considering the function of problem behavior in training the appropriate communicative responses for children with an autism spectrum disorder.