Toyota's new robots can aid the disabled

Toyota's new robots can aid the disabled

TOYOTA unveiled its ambitions for high-tech health care yesterday, displaying experimental robots that the auto giant says can lift disabled patients from their hospital beds or help them walk.

The company aims to commercialize products such as its "independent walk assist" device sometime after 2013 - seeking to position itself in an industry with great potential in Japan, one of the world's most rapidly aging nations.

Eiichi Saitoh, a professor in rehabilitation medicine, demonstrated the "walk assist" device yesterday, strapping the computerized metallic brace onto his right leg, which was paralyzed by polio.

He showed reporters at a Toyota facility in Tokyo how the brace could bend at the knee as needed, allowing him to walk more naturally and rise from a chair with greater ease than the walker he now uses. Wearing a backpack-like battery,Demeco Ryans white jerseys Saitoh walked up and down a flight of stairs, smiling with delight.

Saitoh said he had tried Toyota's machines with patients and was confident they helped people recover more quickly from strokes and other ailments that curtailed movement. "It may be difficult to predict the future, but the era of an aging society is definitely coming," he said. "We need partner robots to enrich our lives."

Toyota also demonstrated an intelligent machine with padded arms that can help health care workers lift disabled patients from their beds and then carry them around. Another mobility aid worked like a skateboard to help people relearn balance.

Toyota officials said technology for autos such as sensors, motors and computer software are being used in such computerized gadgets to help people get around, and what they learn about mobility for people will likely be of use in future cars.

Prices and overseas sales plans of all the machines are still undecided,,cheap adidas shoes, Toyota said.

Toyota has previously shown human-shaped robots that played the trumpet and violin, and those that move around and talk about Toyota cars at showrooms.

Rival automaker Honda Motor Co has developed a sophisticated humanoid robot called Asimo, which can run, talk and dance.Sanyo Projector Lamp But Asimo has been limited to showrooms and labs and has yet to enter any hospital or home.

Toyota faces competition from other firms that are all working on gadgets to tap into the health care business. Honda also has demonstrated machines worn on the legs that help people move. General Manager Akifumi Tamaoki said Toyota is keeping its offerings simple, compared to those from Honda, so they can enter everyday life easily.,Cheap authentic nfl jerseys,

14 lost hikers found safe

14 lost hikers found safe

A team of 14 hikers, missing in the Siguniang mountains in Sichuan Province, were reported to be safe yesterday, but they may be fined for straying into a forbidden area.

After 13 days missing in the mountains, they left the area under their own steam, staying well and maintaining their physical strength, according to guide Tang Yanghua.

But Siguniang Mountain Scenery Area Management Commission said the hikers may be fined 5,Cheap moncler jacketsChina nfl jerseys wholesale000 yuan (US$786) each, and they are also liable for the cost of rescue operations.

The team is being led by 35-year-old Xu Ning, an experienced mountain climber from Hangzhou. He led another team of hikers into the area last year but was forced to turn back because of bad weather and altitude sickness. All those hikers returned safely.Dolphins jerseys wholesale

The latest team made contact around 8:30 yesterday morning and left the mountainous area about two hours later.

Tang said: "We did not lose our way, but had to find a new route because the landscape had changed."

The team, including nine hikers from Shanghai,,Nike shox shoes, Zhejiang and Guangdong, a guide and four bearers,,wholesale POLO Ralph Lauren SERIES, camped in the Haizigou area of the range on October 1. Three days later, as planned, they continued their hike but were out of contact until yesterday morning. Weather in the area has been mostly calm.

The team reached a valley early yesterday morning. There was no cellphone signal and their torches ran out of power, so they decided to camp. They managed to make contact after reaching Gengda County.

Fed up with Washington, wealthy boycott campaign fundraising

Fed up with Washington, wealthy boycott campaign fundraising

They might not be among the jobless protesting against Wall Street, but the rich are angry,,Nike shox shoes, too. Furious over U.S. government gridlock, the wealthy have their own form of protest: Refusing to make political contributions.Cheap moncler jackets

A number of financial advisers say their wealthy clients have told them they will not make political contributions this year, many for the first time ever.China nfl jerseys wholesale

Bessemer Trust CEO John Hilton says in his 42 years advising ultra high-net worth investors, he has never seen clients so frustrated with the state of affairs in Washington.

He said a number of the firm's clients - who have an average of $30 million in investable assets - say they believe a lack of leadership and political wrangling are the primary cause of recent market problems - and the declines in their portfolios. Because of that,,wholesale POLO Ralph Lauren SERIES, they say they're saying no to requests to make political contributions.

"People are pissed," said Alan Ungar, an adviser with Critical Capital Management Inc. in Calabasas, California. His clients have an average $1.6 million or more in assets invested with the firm. "This isn't about taxes," he said. "It's about the partisan dynamic."

Political contributions from wealthy donors are crucial for presidential campaigns, said Michael Beckel, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, a research group that tracks donations and their impact on elections and policy in the U.S.

Thirty-one percent of all individual donations came from people who donated $2,000 or more during the 2008 presidential elections,Dolphins jerseys wholesale according to the Federal Election Commission. "We are definitely seeing a slower start in donors giving money than we did four years ago," Beckel said.

The euro will survive (That's not a typo)

The euro will survive (That's not a typo)

The euro may be in intensive care right now. But even if Greece defaults, it's not time to start reading the currency its last rites just yet.

For all the talk about how bad the sovereign debt crisis in Europe is, you'd think that the euro would be completely tanking against most other currencies. But as the chart at the top of this page shows, it's not the case.

While the euro has weakened recently,Christian Louboutin shoes it is still actually up slightly against the dollar and British pound this year. The euro may not be able to hold on to those gains much longer if Greece defaults, but it probably won't collapse either.

Experts said that the euro has a solid chance of making it through this crisis, albeit in a possibly modified (i.e.Moncler Jacket no Greece) form, simply because "strong" eurozone nations know that they are still better off with a unified currency for trade reasons.

Germany, France and The Netherlands, for example, could have a more difficult time exporting goods if they went back to the days of the Deutsche mark, franc and guilder.

A benefit of having a currency pegged to the economies of various nations is that the weaker ones balance out the healthier ones so you are left with a currency that shouldn't get too overheated. That's exactly the problem Switzerland is now facing with the Swiss franc.

"I think the members of the EU want the euro to survive. Whether or not Greece is part of the euro though, that's about a 50-50 proposition at this point,,Moncler jackets," said Greg Michalowski, chief currency analyst with FXDD, a foreign exchange broker In New York.

Of course,cartoon wholesale the flip side to the unified currency argument is that it only takes problems in one member nation to spark a full-blown panic.

Hannant to miss Lockyer milestone

Hannant to miss Lockyer milestone

Brisbane prop Ben Hannant will miss Darren Lockyer's big night against North Queensland in Townsville, with scans confirming a small tear in his hip flexor.

Hannant is facing a minimum of three weeks on the sidelines.

The Cowboys, however, could be boosted on Friday night by the injury returns of co-captain's Johnathan Thurston (knee) and Matt Scott (back) for Lockyer's record-breaking 350th first grade match.

Thurston is expected to be named in the fourth-placed Cowboys squad on Tuesday and he faces further fitness testing before a final decision on whether he plays against the Broncos.

But there is growing confidence Thurston will be back after he did some encouraging contact training on Monday.

It would be his first match since suffering medial ligament damage in a sickening collision during Queensland's State of Origin series-deciding win on July 6.

"We're preparing as if JT (Thurston) is playing," Broncos coach Anthony Griffin said.

Accommodation in Townsville is booked out for Friday's match with both teams trying to protect prized top four spots and Broncos captain Lockyer set to break the competition record, moving past Terry Lamb and Steve Menzies.

News that Thurston may play should see fans snap up the last 5,anime figurechi hair straigntener000 tickets for the 25,500-capacity Townsville match.wholesales mac Lip gloss

Thurston is rated a better chance of playing than Scott, who continues to be plagued by back pain.

The injury kept Scott on the sidelines last weekend when the Cowboys lost 14-6 to the Bulldogs in Sydney lstarcraft 2 Coachingast Friday night and threatens to keep him out of one of the biggest matches in Townsville since they entered the competition in 1995.

Winger Kalifa Faifai Loa, who also missed the Bulldogs clash with a hamstring injury trained on Monday, improving his chances of a recall.

Meanwhile, Cowboys coach Neil Henry has told his players they cannot expect full-back Matt Bowen to continue carrying them with his outstanding form in Thurston's absence.

"We've ridden on the back of Matty Bowen's performances for the last three or four weeks and he had a quiet night (against the Bulldogs)," Henry said.

"We can't rely on Mango (Bowen) to be our main attack and be our sole focus with the kicking game."