Self‐Powered Gyroscope Ball Using a Triboelectric Mechanism

Healthcare monitoring systems can provide important health state information by monitoring the biomechanical parameter or motion of body segments. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) as self‐powered motion sensors have been developed rapidly to convert external mechanical change into electrical signal. However, research effort on using TENGs for multiaxis acceleration sensing is very limited. Moreover, TENG has not been demonstrated for rotation sensing to date. Herein, for the first time, a 3D symmetric triboelectric nanogenerator‐based gyroscope ball (T‐ball) with dual capability of energy harvesting and self‐powered sensing is proposed for motion monitoring including multiaxis acceleration and rotation. The T‐ball can harvest energy under versatile scenarios and function as self‐powered 3D accelerometer with sensitivity of 6.08, 5.87, and 3.62 V g ^?1 . Furthermore, the T‐ball can serve as a self‐powered gyroscope for rotation sensing with sensitivity of 3.5 mV s^o?1. It shows good performance in hand motion recognition and human activity state monitoring applications. The proposed T‐ball as a self‐powered gyroscope for advanced motion sensing can pave the way to a self‐powered, more accurate, and more complete motion monitoring system.     

New determinations of the eye rotation center and criteria for the formation of its membrane in terms of the floating eye model and experimental support of the latter

It is well known that the eye is a phylogenetically stabilized body with rotation properties. The eye has an elastic cover and is filled with uniform fluid. According to the theory of covers and other concepts on the configuration of turning fluid mass we concluded that the eyeball has an elliptic configuration. Classification of the eyeball is here presented with simultaneous studies of the principles of the eye situation. The parallelism between the state and different types of heterophory and orthophory was studied. To determine normal configuration it is necessary to have in mind some principles of achieving advisable correct situation of the eye in orbit. We determined the centre of the eye rotation and showed that it is impossible to situate it out of the geometrical centre of the eyeball. It was pointed out that for adequate perception the rotation centre must be situated on the visual axis. Using the well known theory of floating we experimentally determined that the centre of the eye rotation lies on the level of the floating eye, just on the point of cross of the visual line with the optical axis. It was shown experimentally on the basis of recording the eye movements in the process of eyelid closing that weakening of the eye movements is of gravitational pattern and proceeds under the action of stability forces, which directly indicates the floating state of the eye. For the first time using the model of the floating eye it was possible to show the formation of extraeye vacuum by straining the back wall. This effect can be obtained without any difficulty, if the face is turned down. The role of negative pressure in the formation of the eye ametropy, as well as new conclusions and prognostications about this new model are discussed.     

Bodily selves in relation: embodied simulation as second-person perspective on intersubjectivity

This article addresses basic aspects of social cognition focusing on the pivotal role played by the lived body in the constitution of our experience of others. It is suggested that before studying intersubjectivity we should better qualify the notion of the self. A minimal notion of the self, the bodily self, defined in terms of its motor potentialities, is proposed. The discovery of mirror mechanisms for action, emotions and sensations led to the proposal of an embodied approach to intersubjectivity—embodied simulation (ES) theory. ES and the related notion of neural reuse provide a new empirically based perspective on intersubjectivity, viewed first and foremost as intercorporeality. ES challenges the notion that folk psychology is the sole account of interpersonal understanding. ES is discussed within a second-person perspective on mindreading.     

Centre of resistance and centre of rotation of a tooth: experimental determination,computer simulation and the effect of tissue nonlinearity

The centre of resistance and centre of rotation of a tooth are key concepts in orthodontics. Determining the coordinates of these points is essential for planning orthodontic tooth movement. The paper proposes a procedure for experimental determination of the two centres, verifies a previously developed mathematical theory through computer simulations and evaluates the effect of nonlinearity of the periodontal ligament on the parameters related to the centres. The paper relies on the mathematical theory of a rigid body embedded in an elastic medium, physical experiment, finite element method and a simple nonlinear theory of the tooth. The concept of the centre of resistance requires a revision if nonlinearity is taken into account.     

Cilia,calcium and the basis of left-right asymmetry

The clockwise rotation of cilia in the developing mammalian embryo drives a leftward flow of liquid; this genetically regulated biophysical force specifies left-right asymmetry of the mammalian body. How leftward flow is interpreted and information propagated to other tissues is the subject of debate. Four recent papers have shed fresh light on the possible mechanisms.     

The placebo response: its putative role as a functional salutogenic mechanism of the central nervous system

The concept of placebo has evolved over time. Generally believed to be the basis of the premodern pharmacopoeia, the placebo has been adopted in practice as a harmless but unscientific approach towards alleviating symptoms. Currently, many medical scientists view placebos pejoratively as confounding elements in the analysis of randomized control trials.This article examines the changing attitudes towards placebos and the persistent controversies that surround their administration. The possible role of the placebo response as a functional salutogenic brain mechanism is considered, and elements of Edelman's neurobiological model of self and attractor theory are combined to explain how a unitary response by the central nervous system might yield diverse placebo effects. It is concluded that placebo responses are rooted in the complexity of mind/body interactions and that their underlying physiological mechanisms may be elucidated via methods that directly examine brain activity as the basis of subjective experience.     

The chemo-mechanical coupled model for F(1)F(0)-motor

F(1)F(0)-motor (ATP synthase) is the universal enzyme in biological energy conversion that is present in the membranes of mitochondria, chloroplasts and bacteria. It uses the energy of the proton gradient across the membrane to synthesize ATP. Previous theory and model about rotation of the ATP synthase is reviewed, then a novel chemo-mechanical coupled model for rotation of the F(1)F(0)-motor is proposed. In the model, more events are considered simultaneously that includes the movement of F(1), the movement of F(0), reactions at F(1) and reactions at F(0). Using the model, the possible substep modes of the rotation for F(1)F(0) are predicted, the dependence of the motor efficiency and its rotation rate on the rigidity of the γ shaft is investigated. We conclude that the γ shaft has a large rotation rate for a limited driving potential because two ends of the γ shaft can rotate alternately for its flexibility. The flexibility also makes the efficiency of F(1)F(0) drop because elastic twisting deformation power is needed during alternate rotation of the γ shaft at two ends.     

Theoretical study of spin-labelled aliphatic chains in bilayers

Some authors have studied the spin-labelled order parameter in phospholipidic bilayers. It is now possible to calculate this parameter through rotation isomer theory and molecular interactions (WIRI model). Its variation along the chain is described. A good agreement is shown with experiments. Therefore an important theoretical parameter is the distance d between closed chains. Theoretical d values for agreement are a little too large.     

The effect of a moving foveal target on the subjective sensation of motion

In this paper, we report on two experiments concerning the effect of the visual field of fovea on the subjective estimation of angular velocity. Experiment 1 investigates the effect of a slow moving target on the perception of self motion. The result of this experiment can be summarized as follows: a slow moving target seen in the visual field of fovea by a stationary person generates in this person a sensation of self rotation in the same direction as the motion of the target. This phenomenon will be called foveal induced ego motion. Experiment 2 investigates the latency for the detection of a self angular acceleration when the person focusses his fovea on a slowly moving target. From the results of this experiment we conclude that the latency for detection of a small self angular acceleration is shorter if the person sees a small foveal target moving with respect to the person in the direction of self rotation than if that small foveal target is moving (with respect to the person) in the opposite direction. The results of these experiments help us in refining existing models of visual-vestibular interaction, by providing a model which accounts for the phenomenon of oculogyral illusion.This research was conducted while serving as a Visiting Professor at the Man Vehicle Laboratory, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA     

Visual-vestibular convergence in the vestibular nuclei of the cat

Responses from neurons of the vestibular nuclei were recorded in N₂O-anaesthetized cats. Most neurons in the rostral parts of the nuclei responded to bimodal visual-vestibular stimulation, following a trapezoidal velocity profile. Both combinations of the two stimuli were tested: rotation of the animal with stationary visual field and rotation with overtaking visual field, i.e. the visual pattern running in the same direction as the turntable with twice the velocity. Some correlation of physiological data with results in corresponding psychophysical experiments were found. As a possible biological function of visual-vestibular convergence a phylogenetic solution for discrimination of body and outer world movement is discussed.     

The influence of anthropometrical and flexibility parameters on the results of breaststroke swimming

The aim of this investigation was to study the possible relationships between anthropometry, flexibility and specific swimming results in female breaststroke swimmers. Subjects were 125 female breaststroke swimmers in age of 11-18 years. Body height and mass were measured and BMI (kg/m2 ) and Broca index (body height in cm - 100 = weight in kg) were calculated. The flexibility of hip external rotation, knee external rotation, ankle dorsal flexion and ankle supination were measured with plastic goniometer. 100 m breaststroke swimming using kickboard and legs only was used as a swimming performance parameter. The number of kicks was also fixed. Horizontal jumping ability was measured using a simple standing broad jump (cm) minus body height (cm). As a rule, flexibility in different joints did not depend on anthropometrical parameters. Only knee external rotation and ankle dorsal flexion correlated significantly with body mass (r = -0.221 and r = -0.210, respectively) and BMI (r = 0.242 and r = 0.204, respectively). The relationship between flexibility in different joints, as a rule, was not significant. Stepwise multiple regression analysis indicated that from the used anthropometrical parameters the most important was the body height, which explained 11.1% (R2 x 100) of the 100 m breaststroke swim results using legs only. The most important parameter from the measured flexibility indices was knee external rotation (11.1%, R2 x 100). Combination of knee external rotation and ankle supination increased the determination coefficient to 24.4%. Finally, three flexibility measures (knee external rotation, ankle supination, hip external rotation) explained the swimming results by 28.2% (R2 x 100). It was concluded that the good flexibility is more important than single anthropometrical parameters when explaining the breaststroke swimming results using kickboard and legs only.     

Centers and angles of rotation of body joints: A study of errors and optimization

Large variations are generally reported in the locations of centers of rotation (CR) for each of various joints in the human body. Some of these reports present conflicting results. This paper shows that this may be due in part to suboptimal experimental design as well as the phenomenon of error magnification. An algorithm is presented for computing the coordinates of the CR and the angle of rotation from the x, y coordinate measurements of two point markers on a moving body in two different positions. Error analysis is performed using a mathematical model that introduces systematically a positive or a negative error into each of the 8 x, y coordinates in all possible combinations, resulting in 256 CR locations. CR error zones are computed and graphed. Parametric analysis of the experimental set-up leads to optimization of the set-up. A typical case is analyzed and its errors computed. It is shown that small errors present in the measurements of the x, y coordinates of the markers are magnified to relatively large errors in the CR coordinates. In a suboptimal case, this magnification may be 30–50 times or more. The results show that, besides the magnitude of x, y coordinate errors, other factors responsible for determining the magnitude of errors in the location of the CR are: the magnitude of angle of rotation, the orientation of the markers with respect to the CR and their distances from the CR. In conjunction with the CR, the angle of rotation is also analyzed. Guidelines for optimal experimental set-up for minimizing the output errors are presented.     

Could reversed-field pinches and quasi-helical stellarators benefit from transport suppression in tokamaks?

The trapped particle theory of turbulent transport successfully explains key features of tokamak transport: the canonical L-mode, supershort plasma profiles, and the transport suppression by negative magnetic shear and poloidal rotation. Here, this theory is applied to reversed-field pinch (RFP) profiles, which can be justified if the magnetic fluctuations are suppressed, and to stellarators. A canonical density profile for RFPs is suggested, and it is found that no analogue of the transport suppression by negative shear in tokamaks is possible in RFPs. In quasi-helical stellarators, on the other hand, it appears possible to create an analogue of the tokamak reversed shear mode in the entire plasma volume.     

More than skin deep: a self-consistency approach to the psychology of cosmetic surgery

Underlying attitudes about the general self and the specific body part operated on in cosmetic surgery were investigated. It was hypothesized that female cosmetic surgery patients would feel less favorably toward their noses, faces, or breasts than toward their overall self. These marked inconsistencies would cause "normal" individuals to seek practical solutions of enhancing the esteem of the particular body part, to make it consistent with their general view of themselves. Forty female cosmetic surgery patients were tested before and 2 and 4 months after surgery. In all, 12 hypotheses were made within the general self-consistency framework and 11 were upheld at levels ranging from 0.02 to 0.001. Self-consistency theory accurately represents the female cosmetic surgery patient as a normal woman in terms of self-esteem who is attempting to remediate a consciously felt inconsistency between general and specific body-part esteem. Cosmetic surgery seems to reduce this inconsistency.     

Motor simulation and the bodily self

Previous studies demonstrated the human ability to implicitly recognize their own body. When submitted to a visual matching task, participants showed the so-called self-advantage, that is, a better performance with self rather than others' body or body parts. Here, we investigated whether the body self-advantage relies upon a motor representation of one's body. Participants were submitted to a laterality judgment of self and others' hands (Experiment 1 and 3), which involves a sensory-motor mental simulation. Moreover, to investigate whether the self-advantage emerges also when an explicit self processing is required, the same participants were submitted to an explicit self-body recognition task (Experiment 2). Participants showed the self-advantage when performing the laterality judgment, but not when self-recognition was explicitly required. Thus, implicit and explicit recognition of the bodily self dissociate and only an implicit recognition of the bodily self, mapped in motor terms, allows the self-advantage to emerge.     

Relationship of Body Composition to Body‐Fatness Estimation in Japanese University Students

Objective: To examine the relationship between self‐estimated whole body size and fatness and whole body and regional composition, and the relationship between self‐estimated whole body fatness and self‐estimated regional fatness in Japanese university students. Research Methods and Procedures: This was a cross‐sectional study using Japanese university students (110 men and 79 women). The percentage of body fat, fat mass (FM), and fat‐free mass (FFM) were measured by underwater weighing and used as body composition variables. Subcutaneous fat thicknesses were determined at seven sites by ultrasonography to estimate regional body composition, and six circumferences and four breadths to estimate regional size. Relative body size and fatness were self‐estimated using a questionnaire. Results: Only women tended to estimate themselves as being fatter than they actually were. Self‐estimated body fatness moderately correlated with the percentage of body fat (men, r = 0.41; women, r = 0.40) FM (men, r = 0.50; women, r = 0.51), and body mass index (r = 0.56 for men and 0.56 for women). After adjusting for the percentages of body fat and FM, self‐estimated fatness correlated with body mass index (r = 0.31 for men and r = 0.37 for women). Among self‐estimated regional fatness, self‐estimated abdominal fatness had the strongest correlation with self‐estimated whole body fatness in both genders. Discussion: The low correlation between estimated and actual body fatness in both genders indicates that Japanese university students, especially women, inaccurately estimate their percentage of body fat. In fact, both men and women primarily estimate their whole body fatness by body weight relative to height.     

Signs of the Self: An Exploration in Semiotic Anthropology

Peirce's general theory of signs, or semiotic, as he called it, yields a theory of the self that sees it both as the object and the subject of semiotic systems. From this viewpoint, the locus, unity, and continuity of the self will be found in the systems of signs that constitute the dialogues between utterers and interpreters of the signs. Personal identity, in this theory, is also a social and cultural identity and is not confined to the individual organism. Peirce's anti-Cartesianism, which denies intuitive and introspective knowledge of the self, derived that knowledge from the fallible inferences we all make from the observations of external facts, including the signs of the self. This laid the foundation for a semiotic psychology as well as for a semiotic anthropology. [self, semiotic anthropology, personal identity, C. S. Peirce]     

Unidirectional, intermittent rotation of the flagellum of Rhodobacter sphaeroides.

The single flagellum of the photosynthetic bacterium Rhodobacter sphaeroides was found to be medially located on the cell body. Observation of free-swimming bacteria, and bacteria tethered by their flagellar filaments, revealed that the flagellum could only rotate in the clockwise direction; switching of the direction of rotation was never observed. Flagellar rotation stopped periodically, typically several times a minute for up to several seconds each. Reorientation of swimming cells appeared to be the result of Brownian rotation during the stop periods. The flagellar filament displayed polymorphism; detached and nonrotating filaments were usually seen as large-amplitude helices of such short wavelength that they appeared as flat coils or circles, whereas the filaments on swimming cells showed a normal (small-amplitude, long-wavelength) helical form. With attached filaments, the transition from the normal to the coiled form occurred when the flagellar motor stopped rotating, proceeding from the distal end towards the cell body. It is possible that both the relaxation process and the smaller frictional resistance after relaxation may act to enhance the rate of reorientation of the cell. The transition from the coiled to the normal form occurred when the motor restarted, proceeding from the proximal end outwards, which might further contribute to the reorientation of the cell before it reaches a stable swimming geometry.     

Optimal distance from the implement to the axis of rotation in hammer and discus throws.

It is a well-known fact that a dramatic improvement in the range of any projective throw can be achieved by increasing the release velocity. In this paper a simple model of a competitor with an implement (hammer or discus) in the turns is considered. The thrower is regarded as a rigid body, and the implement as a point mass. The transverse velocity component of the implement at the release moment is maximized. For finding the optimal distance of the implement from the axis of rotation optimal control theory is applied. According to the proposed model, the optimal hammer throwing technique requires constant and maximal distance of the implement from the axis of rotation, followed by the rapid shortening of the distance immediately prior to the release. In the discus throw, however, this shortening is useless.     

Interdomain motion in liver alcohol dehydrogenase. Structural and energetic analysis of the hinge bending mode

A study of the hinge bending mode in the enzyme liver alcohol dehydrogenase is made by use of empirical energy functions. The enzyme is a dimer, with each monomer composed of a coenzyme binding domain and a catalytic domain with a large cleft between the two. Superposition of the apoenzyme and holoenzyme crystal structures is used to determine a rigid rotation axis for closing of the cleft. It is shown that a rigid body transformation of the apoenzyme to the holoenzyme structure corresponds to a 10 degrees rotation of the catalytic domain about this axis. The rotation is not along the least-motion path for closing of the cleft but instead corresponds to the catalytic domain coming closer to the coenzyme binding domain by a sliding motion. Estimation of the energy associated with the interdomain motion of the apoenzyme over a range of 90 degrees (-40 to 50 degrees, where 0 degrees corresponds to the minimized crystal structure) demonstrates that local structural relaxation makes possible large-scale rotations with relatively small energy increments. A variety of structural rearrangements associated with the domain motion are characterized. They involve the hinge region residues that provide the covalent connections between the two domains and certain loop regions that are brought into contact by the rotation. Differences between the energy minimized and the holoenzyme structures point to the existence of alternative conformations for loops and to the importance of the ligands in the structural rearrangements.