Performance-enhancing Technologies Research Articles

Society's Attitudes Towards Human Augmentation and Performance Enhancement Technologies (SHAPE) Scale

Human augmentation technologies (ATs) are a subset of ubiquitous on-body devices designed to improve cognitive, sensory, and motor capacities. Although there is a large corpus of knowledge concerning ATs, less is known about societal attitudes towards them and how they shift over time. To that end, we developed The Society's Attitudes Towards Human Augmentation and Performance Enhancement Technologies (SHAPE) Scale, which measures how users of ATs are perceived. To develop the scale, we first created a list of possible scale items based on past work on how people respond to new technologies. The items were then reviewed by experts. Next, we performed exploratory factor analysis to reduce the scale to its final length of thirteen items. Subsequently, we confirmed test-retest validity of our instrument, as well as its construct validity. The SHAPE scale enables researchers and practitioners to understand elements contributing to attitudes toward augmentation technology users. The SHAPE scale assists designers of ATs in designing artifacts that will be more universally accepted.

A fuel cell range extender integrating with heat pump for cabin heat and power generation

Batteries, Heat Pumps (HPs), and fuel cells (FCs) are critical for transport decarbonization and a net zero future. However, cabin heating in extreme conditions leads to severe driving range reduction in current Electric Vehicles (EVs). The performance of the heat pump (HP) in EVs and its performance enhancement technologies are widely investigated but cannot, simultaneously, provide sufficient heat and high COP. The source and amount of the waste heat within a vehicle for the heat pump integrated system is a crucial challenge to improve performance. The structure becomes increasingly complicated, but the benefits are not significant. Therefore, in this study, a small Fuel Cell, battery and heat pump integrated energy management system for range extended EVs (FCBEEV) is designed. The cogeneration characteristic of the fuel cell and waste heat from battery pack are utilised by the heat pump to ensure a high-level of cabin comfort in extremely cold temperatures and an extension of the driving range. A numerical model was established in MATLAB and the results were analysed from energy, exergy, environment, and economic (4E) perspectives. In this study, we show that the highest COPsys of the proposed system is 5.8 and can improve the driving range (DR) by 65% to 110% compared to the reference systems. The exergy efficiency of the suggested system is 75% at −10 °C and the fuel cell and internal condenser are the primary causes of the exergy destruction. The environmental impact decreases by 13 kg/year per car compared to current EVs with a Positive Temperature Coefficient (PTC) and Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) system, and the reduction is primarily sourced from the indirect emissions. The operating cost which includes driving and heating is 28.9% higher than cited for an ASHP and PTC system and 41% higher than the PTC baseline system. The payback duration is 300,000 km at current market prices, and it is predicted to be shorter to 100,000 km, if the cost of the fuel cell stack is estimated at £4000 and the H2 price is the same as electricity. We anticipate that the proposed system can significantly improve cabin comfort and driving range anxieties, as well as promote the decarbonization of transport.

Recent development in structural designs and thermal enhancement technologies of thermoelectric generator with different types of heat sources: A review

The thermoelectric generator (TEG) as a noise-free, pollution-free and environmentally friendly energy-conversion device has been intensively investigated in the last few decades. For different TEG applications, the characteristics of their heat sources determine the structural designs of the TEG systems. In this work, we categorized TEG heat sources into three types: body heat, natural sources of heat energy, and industrial waste heat. The up-to-date three maim structural designs of wearable TEGs including film TEG, micro-bulk TEG, and yarn TEG were reviewed. For TEG using natural heat sources, the major structural designs of TEG using solar energy, geothermal energy, and ambient heat energy were summarized. In terms of TEG using industrial waste heat, the structures of TEG systems applied in automotive, household stoves, and factories were concluded. Meanwhile, key thermal enhancement technologies including different heat exchangers, heat pipes, and phase change material (PCM) to improve the performance of these TEG systems, as well as challenges of each TEG system were also concluded. This review is expected to provide inspiration for the structural designs of TEG systems with different types of heat sources and to offer potential performance enhancement technologies for engineers and researchers in this field.

A comparative study on the performance of field-sampled asphalt mixtures for heavy-duty pavements using laboratory testing and mechanistic-empirical simulations

The demand for durability and resilience in asphalt pavements has led to the progressive implementation of performance-enhancing technologies like bitumen modification using polymers or fibers. This is particularly important in a port environment, where roads are subjected to heavy traffic. The main objective of this study is to contribute to the current state of knowledge on the performance of asphalt mixtures, including polymers and fibers, by conducting a comprehensive laboratory investigation of eight field mixtures, followed by an evaluation of their expected performance in five test sections using the AASHTOWare Pavement ME Design software. The eight mixtures included two lean asphalt mixes to be used as a replacement for granular layers, three base mixtures, and three surface mixtures. Laboratory testing showed that the addition of a blend of 91% polypropylene and 9% glass fibers increased stiffness and resistance to moisture damage. Also, this fiber blend improved cracking resistance when used in a relatively flexible mixture. It was found that top-down cracking predictions followed the trend observed in semicircular bending tests. Conversely, the predicted rutting performance did not align with the rut depth trend in the laboratory. Furthermore, the use of SMA instead of a dense-graded surface layer appeared to increase fatigue cracking in pavement sections with granular bases unless a high-modulus base asphalt layer was used. This study was a first attempt to use advanced pavement performance predictions in Belgium. The data gathered during the future monitoring of the test sections built as part of this study will provide valuable primary data for the local calibration of pavement distress models.

Effects of changes in finishing diets and growth technologies on animal growth performance and the carbon footprint of cattle feeding: 1990 to 2020

Our objective was to estimate the effects of changes in feedlot diets and the availability of performance-enhancing technologies on growth performance and the carbon footprint of cattle feeding between 1990 and 2020. A model was developed to represent feedlot diets and technologies used in 1990 versus 2020 and evaluate changes in growth performance and carbon footprint. Byproduct feeds became more common between 1990 and 2020; thus, corn and dry roughage inclusion rates decreased. Estradiol-only implants and monensin were the available technologies in 1990, whereas in 2020 use of implants with combinations of trenbolone acetate and estradiol, monensin, and ractopamine hydrochloride (in the final 28 to 42 d) were common. In both 1990 and 2020 use of all available technologies increased final BW, ADG, G:F, and hot carcass weight compared with no technology. From 1990 to 2020 initial BW, final BW, ADG, G:F, hot carcass weight, and daily DMI increased. Total days on feed increased by 44 d from 1990 to 2020. Compared with no technology, use of technologies in both 1990 and 2020 decreased total greenhouse gas emissions per animal (CO 2 equivalent, CO 2 e). Because cattle had greater days on feed in 2020, all sources of greenhouse gas emissions per animal increased compared with the values estimated in 1990. However, when expressed as CO 2 e/kg of BW gain, emissions have decreased by 4.4% because of greater total BW gain in 2020 versus 1990. Feedlot cattle decreased relative emissions from 4.78 kg of CO 2 e/kg of BW gain in 1990 to 4.58 kg of CO 2 e/kg of BW gain in 2020. Overall, feedlots in 2020 produced 47.5% more BW gain with 1.4% less cattle, while only increasing total CO 2 e by 39.5%. Therefore, changes in available technologies and diet formulations have improved efficiency and reduced the carbon footprint of feedlot cattle production in the past 30 yr.

Unnatural Technology in a “Natural” Practice? Human Nature and Performance-Enhancing Technology in Sport

(1) Background: The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) utilizes three criteria to include a technology in the List of Banned Substances and Methods—performance enhancement, health, and the spirit of sport. The latter is arguably the most fundamental one, as WADA justifies the anti-doping mission by appealing to it. (2) Method: Given the interrelationship among the notions of “human nature,” “natural talent,” and “sport,” I investigate what view of human nature underpins the “spirit of sport” criterion. To do so, I focus on both WADA’s official documents and scholarly formulations of the spirit of sport (that align with that of WADA). (3) Results: I show that the value attributed to excellence and effort in WADA’s formulation of the “spirit of sport” criterion has its roots in the notion of human nature of the work ethic that resulted from the secularization of the Protestant ethic. (4) Conclusion: Drawing on my analysis of the “spirit of sport” criterion, I pose critical questions concerning the justification of WADA’s anti-doping campaign and a tentative solution to move forward in the debate.

LoRa for LPWA Network: Overview and its Performance Enhancement Technologies

LoRa for LPWA Network: Overview and its Performance Enhancement Technologies

Service Performance Enhancement Technologies for BeiDou Navigation Satellite System along the Belt and Road

Service Performance Enhancement Technologies for BeiDou Navigation Satellite System along the Belt and Road

The use of performance-enhancing technologies in sports through Nicolas Agar’s “truly human enhancement” approach

In this paper, I will present Nicholas Agar’s “truly human enhancement” approach, which is aimed at critiquing pro-enhancement approaches that advocate for the utilization of technology to better the human condition. After identifying some limitations of Agar’s approach, I will apply it to sport in order to explore what kinds of enhancing-performance technologies should be allowed in it. In doing so, I will focus on two criteria from Agar’s account that could be deployed to determine when it would be morally condemnable to utilize performance-enhancing technologies in sport, namely intrinsic goods and veridical engagement.

Performance-enhancing technologies for steers grazing tall fescue pastures with varying levels of toxicity1.

The objective of this study was to evaluate a combination of best management practices strategy for steer calves grazing tall fescue pastures with a range of toxicity. The experiment was conducted over 2 grazing seasons (fall 2015 for 91 d and spring 2016 for 84 d). Steers (n = 80 within season, body weight [BW] = 197.0 ± 15.43 kg [fall] and 116.9 ± 4.88 [spring]) were stocked at 2.45 and 4.1 calves/ha in fall and spring, respectively, to 16 pastures with varying levels of toxicity based on interim ergovaline (EV) concentration within season. Pastures were assigned to either mineral (MIN, n = 8) only management (MGMT) or a cumulative MGMT (CM, n = 8). The CM treatment included an implant containing 40-mg trenbolone acetate, 8-mg estradiol, and 29-mg tylosin tartrate (Component TE-G with Tylan, Elanco Animal Health, Greenfield, IN), 150 mg/calf daily monensin (Elanco Animal Health), and 1% BW of a 50:50 corn gluten feed:soybean hull supplement (as-is basis). Data were analyzed within season using pasture as the experimental unit. For fall and spring, the EV concentration was 1,476 ± 883.2 and 1,173 ± 620.6 ppb, respectively, and ranged from 90 to 2,180 ppb. During the fall, forage allowance did not differ (P = 0.76) between CM and MIN. In the spring, however, forage allowance only differed for the month of June (P ≤ 0.05, 2.55 vs. 3.22 ± 0.177 kg DM/kg BW, for MIN and CM, respectively). In the fall, average daily gain (ADG) responded to the simple effects of EV (P = 0.01) and MGMT (P < 0.001), and ADG for MIN steers was explained by ADG = 0.41 - 0.000064 × EV, whereas ADG for CM was explained by ADG = 1.05 - 0.000064 × EV. In the spring, there was an EV × MGMT interaction (P = 0.03) for ADG. For MIN, ADG = 0.80 - 0.000278 × EV, whereas for CM, ADG = 0.94 + 0.000001835 × EV. In spring, the ADG response to CM relative to MIN increased as EV increased. The CM strategy resulted in lower blood urea nitrogen than MIN in fall and spring (P < 0.01), but prolactin and serum Cu were not affected by MGMT in either season. In conclusion, performance was improved within the fescue belt by implementing feeding strategies using implants, ionophores, and supplementation, but a detailed economic analysis is warranted. Further research is needed to evaluate CM programs under varied stocking rates and in combination with dilution of endophyte-infected fescue pastures with nontoxic grasses or legumes.

Implementing a responsible, research and innovation framework for human enhancement according to human rights: the right to bodily integrity and the rise of ‘enhanced societies’

ABSTRACTRecently, attempts to shape the Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) model according to human rights have been made by scholars (including by Ronald Leenes and his co-authors, see (2017) 9 LIT 1). Taking up this challenge, this article applies a version of the RRI framework, shaped by human rights, to the field of human enhancement. It does so in order to respond to the following question: what guidance can we derive from Europe's human rights system for the responsible development of performance-enhancing technologies? In this context, given the special link between performance-enhancing modifications and the human body, analysis of the right to bodily integrity shows that it is possible to build a human right as the ‘normative anchor point’ for the governance of human enhancement technologies. Drawing on both the European Convention on Human Rights (together with the jurisprudence of the Strasbourg Court) and the Oviedo Convention, it is argued that Europe's regime of human rights can efficaciously tackle the challenge of future ‘enhanced societies’ – where the ECHR is not conclusive, the Oviedo Convention is decisive for solving hard cases related to human enhancement.

Non-pharmacological military performance enhancement technologies

Non-pharmacological military performance enhancement technologies

The paradox of human milk doping for anti-doping

Human milk is employed as a reference substance to assess the equivocal language defining the three tests (enhancement, health and violation of the Spirit of Sport) for prohibiting substances and methods under the World Anti-Doping Code (the Code). Human milk is demonstrated to be consumed by athletes with intent to enhance performance, presents a non-trivial risk to health, and violates the Spirit of Sport. The implications of prohibiting human milk under the Code demonstrate the increasing complexity and unintended (sometimes absurd) outcomes that arise from the implementation of the anti-doping ideology. The discussion focuses on two outcomes of the analysis. Firstly, the trade-off between administrative convenience and a workable drug control system for sport is considered (e.g. transparency versus decision latitude). Secondly, the discussion raises questions about the extent to which anti-doping policy makers consider third party harms with trading athletes and sporting interests relative to others individuals (e.g. babies) and society more broadly. The plausible prohibition of human milk under the Code indicates that a much closer examination of how best to manage performance enhancing technology in sport is needed, especially with regards to the influence of anti-doping beyond sport.

How Non-invasive Brain Stimulation Might Invade Our Sphere of Justice

Non-invasive brain stimulation (NIBS) is proving to be an effective method to enhance cognitive skills and motor coordination, which makes it a precious tool both in the intellectual sphere and in sports. Accordingly, in selective-competitive contexts, the use of NIBS can threaten the fairness and produce unexpected social composition effects. To avoid those negative consequences, it might be recommended that people should declare the use of enhancers of any kind, including those that are not explicitly prohibited. But the duty of disclosure seems particularly problematic to be enforced with NIBS, as it is not currently detectable. Moreover, considering the fact that NIBS has very different enhancement effects on each individual, all these elements may create strong performance inequalities and consequent discrimination, if NIBS were to become widespread. In this paper, within a Rawlsian theoretical framework, we highlight the risks posed by this new performance-enhancing technology and we propose compelling moral reasons for some forms of regulation of non-clinical use of NIBS.

Barriers to global implementation of current and development of new performance-enhancing technologies in meat production

Barriers to global implementation of current and development of new performance-enhancing technologies in meat production

Performance-enhancing technologies in swine production

Performance-enhancing technologies in swine production

Performance-enhancing technologies of beef production

Exponential growth in global human population and a general increase in per capita consumption of animal products require technologies that will produce more animal protein while using fewer resources. At the same time, the quality and safety of the final product should not be compromised. Conventional technologies such as structural genomics, anabolic implants, and ionophores are now complemented by new innovations such as functional genomics, various “omic” sciences, essential oils as antimicrobials, and β agonists. The traditional focus on higher yields in development of technologies has shifted to include sustainability and reduction of the carbon footprint caused by production of animal products.

Metabolic modifiers as performance-enhancing technologies for livestock production

• Population growth and ever-increasing competition for land, food, water, and energy is forcing livestock industries to improve the efficiency with which they can produce their products. • Growth promoters, metabolic modifiers, and management strategies require constant development and research to ensure that these industries remain profitable. • As incomes increase in the burgeoning economies, so does the demand for high-quality animal proteins such as meat, milk, and eggs; thus, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations suggests that food requirements will increase by 70% by 2050 (Anonymous, 2009) • There are metabolic modifiers such as recombinant porcine somatotropin, dietary β-agonists, hormone growth promotants, and an immunocastration vaccine available for some livestock industries. However, there is mounting resistance from retailers and consumer groups who advocate that food should be produced naturally. • There is overwhelming evidence for the continued use and development of new growth-promoting technologies, but retailers and consumer groups as well as artificial trade barriers may yet prove to be too disruptive.

From the Editors: The use of performance-enhancing technologies in global livestock production

From the Editors: The use of performance-enhancing technologies in global livestock production

Simulation-Based Design for Wearable Robotic Systems: An Optimization Framework for Enhancing a Standing Long Jump.

Technologies that augment human performance are the focus of intensive research and development, driven by advances in wearable robotic systems. Success has been limited by the challenge of understanding human-robot interaction. To address this challenge, we developed an optimization framework to synthesize a realistic human standing long jump and used the framework to explore how simulated wearable robotic devices might enhance jump performance. A planar, five-segment, seven-degree-of-freedom model with physiological torque actuators, which have variable torque capacity depending on joint position and velocity, was used to represent human musculoskeletal dynamics. An active augmentation device was modeled as a torque actuator that could apply a single pulse of up to 100 Nm of extension torque. A passive design was modeled as rotational springs about each lower limb joint. Dynamic optimization searched for physiological and device actuation patterns to maximize jump distance. Optimization of the nominal case yielded a 2.27m jump that captured salient kinematic and kinetic features of human jumps. When the active device was added to the ankle, knee, or hip, jump distance increased to between 2.49 and 2.52m. Active augmentation of all three joints increased the jump distance to 3.10m. The passive design increased jump distance to 3.32m by adding torques of 135, 365, and 297 Nm to the ankle, knee, and hip, respectively. Dynamic optimization can be used to simulate a standing long jump and investigate human-robot interaction. Simulation can aid in the design of performance-enhancing technologies.