ペーパーメカトロニクス -印刷法を用いたロボット作製法の創成-

早大学位記番号:新7808早稲田大

Multi-Layer Electrical Impedance Tomography Based Soft Tactile Skins

Distributed high-density tactile sensing is a challenging problem with numerous commercial applications. Soft sensing technologies appear to be a promising approach to address this challenge. In particular, Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT)-based soft sensors are desirable because they can offer a large sensing surface without rigid electrodes and provide high sensing resolution. However, their applicability is limited to simple sensor shapes, and they require materials with high conductivity for sensing accuracy. This project introduces a novel multi-layered architecture for EIT-based soft skins. This innovation allows us to develop sensory skins with multiple materials and provides greater flexibility in electrode placement, resulting in higher accuracy. We experimentally tested the method's applicability using soft skins of varying morphology, employing a hydrogel-based tactile skin. The results demonstrate that our multi-layer soft skin improves average accuracy compared to a single-layer EIT-based skin, reducing it from 15.8 mm to 4.4 mm

A Deformable Motor Driven by Dielectric Elastomer Actuators and Flexible Mechanisms

Soft robots with dynamic motion could be used in a variety of applications involving the handling of fragile materials. Rotational motors are often used as actuators to provide functions for robots (e.g., vibration, locomotion, and suction). To broaden the applications of soft robots, it will be necessary to develop a rotational motor that does not prevent robots from undergoing deformation. In this study, we developed a deformable motor based on dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs) that is lightweight, consumes little energy, and does not generate a magnetic field. We tested the new motor in two experiments. First, we showed that internal stress changes in the DEAs were transmitted to the mechanism that rotates the motor. Second, we demonstrated that the deformable motor rotated even when it was deformed by an external force. In particular, the rotational performance did not decrease when an external force was applied to deform the motor into an elliptical shape. Our motor opens the door to applications of rotational motion to soft robots

リクグン コウクウ ブタイ ニオケル アフリカケイ アメリカジン ノ チイ コウジョウ ニツイテ : Tuskegee Airmen ノ ハタシタ ヤクワリ

Although Black Americans had long served in the racially segregated United States Army prior to World WarII, there were no Black pilots in the Army Air Force (AAF) or its immediate predecessor, the Air Corps. TheAAF resisted previous efforts to enlist Black airmen with the claim that there were no Black pilots in theUnited States. Previous efforts to enlist Black airmen were met with the claim within the War Departmentand the AAF in general that Black Americans lacked the aptitude to be military pilots. It was not until thepassage of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940 that the AAF, along with other military services,was required to enlist Black males in proportion to their percentage (about 10 percent) of the total population.According to Charles Dryden, Tuskegee Airmen were individuals who were involved in the so-calledTuskegee Experiment by the U.S. War Department to train Black Americans to fly and to maintain airplanesin flying condition, from 1941 to 1946, including persons stationed or employed at Tuskegee Army Air Fieldand / or Moton Field, in various roles and statures: flying officers, nonflying officers, nurses, aviation cadets,noncommissioned officers, enlisted men and women, and civilians. However, according to LeRoy Gillead, theperiod definition is not from 1941 to 1946, but from 1939 to 1949. It was in 1939 that Black Americans werepromoted in aviation through Public Law 18 and the Civil Pilot Training Act. Further, 1949 was the year inwhich many Tuskegee Airmen left Lockborne Air Force Base and were transferred to white Air Force Base.Black Soldiers in World War II had to fight against enemies overseas and discrimination within the UnitedStates. In 1939, there were 1359 white officers in the Army, but only 5 Black officers. Three were chaplainsand the other two were Benjamin Davis, Sr. and Benjamin Davis, Jr. Almost 1000 Black Americans finishedPilot Training. 450 Black Pilots and many Black Ground Supports went overseas in combat roles. TheTuskegee Airmen who remained in the United States fought against discrimination in incidents such as theFreeman Field Incident. The Tuskegee Airmen fought for the advancement of the status of Black Americans20 years before the Civil Rights Movement in the United States

Motivated cognition: effects of reward, emotion, and other motivational factors across a variety of cognitive domains

A growing body of literature has demonstrated that motivation influences cognitive processing. The breadth of these effects is extensive and span influences of reward, emotion, and other motivational processes across all cognitive domains. As examples, this scope includes studies of emotional memory, value-based attentional capture, emotion effects on semantic processing, reward-related biases in decision making, and the role of approach/avoidance motivation on cognitive scope. Additionally, other less common forms of motivation–cognition interactions, such as self-referential and motoric processing can also be considered instances of motivated cognition. Here I outline some of the evidence indicating the generality and pervasiveness of these motivation influences on cognition, and introduce the associated ‘research nexus’ at Collabra: Psychology

Studies on breeding of the rice variety of high eating quality with seed longevity

東京農工大学博士（農学）text学位論文 / Thesis or Dissertationthesi

Brain Training Game Improves Executive Functions and Processing Speed in the Elderly: A Randomized Controlled Trial

The beneficial effects of brain training games are expected to transfer to other cognitive functions, but these beneficial effects are poorly understood. Here we investigate the impact of the brain training game (Brain Age) on cognitive functions in the elderly.Thirty-two elderly volunteers were recruited through an advertisement in the local newspaper and randomly assigned to either of two game groups (Brain Age, Tetris). This study was completed by 14 of the 16 members in the Brain Age group and 14 of the 16 members in the Tetris group. To maximize the benefit of the interventions, all participants were non-gamers who reported playing less than one hour of video games per week over the past 2 years. Participants in both the Brain Age and the Tetris groups played their game for about 15 minutes per day, at least 5 days per week, for 4 weeks. Each group played for a total of about 20 days. Measures of the cognitive functions were conducted before and after training. Measures of the cognitive functions fell into four categories (global cognitive status, executive functions, attention, and processing speed). Results showed that the effects of the brain training game were transferred to executive functions and to processing speed. However, the brain training game showed no transfer effect on any global cognitive status nor attention.Our results showed that playing Brain Age for 4 weeks could lead to improve cognitive functions (executive functions and processing speed) in the elderly. This result indicated that there is a possibility which the elderly could improve executive functions and processing speed in short term training. The results need replication in large samples. Long-term effects and relevance for every-day functioning remain uncertain as yet.UMIN Clinical Trial Registry 000002825

Trends in hepatocellular carcinoma incident cases in Japan between 1996 and 2019

We examined the epidemiological trends, including the distribution of sex, age, and disease etiology, in HCC incident cases, over 24 years. Data of 20,547 HCC patients (1996–2019) were analyzed in this prospective study. We divided the study period into four 6-yearly quarters. HCC etiology was categorized as hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, HBV + hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection, HCV infection, and both negative (non-BC). The incident cases of HCC per quarter of the study period were 4311 (21.0%), 5505 (26.8%), 5776 (28.1%), and 4955 (24.1%), sequentially. Overall, 14,020 (68.2%) patients were male. The number of HCC cases in patients < 60 years, 60–69 years, 70–79 years, and ≥ 80 years were 3711 (18.1%), 6652 (32.4%), 7448 (36.2%), and 2736 (13.3%), respectively. The average age of newly-diagnosed patients increased in each quarter. HCC was associated with HBV, HBV + HCV, and HCV infections and non-BC in 2997 (14.6%), 187 (0.9%), and 12,019 (58.5%), and 5344 (26.0%) cases, respectively. The number of HCV-associated cases decreased in each quarter, while that of non-BC-associated cases increased. HCC incident cases tend to increase in the elderly and in non-BC patients; in contrast, HCC incident cases due to HCV tend to decrease