Pneumatic artificial muscles conventional electric motors and hydraulic cylinders. Pneumatic artificial muscles Pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) are contractile or extensional devices operated by pressurized air filling a pneumatic bladder. In an approximation of human muscles, PAMs are usually grouped in pairs: one agonist and one antagonist. PAMs were first developed (under the name of "McKibben Artificial Muscles") in the 1950s for use in artificial limbs. The Bridgestone rubber company (Japan) commercialized the idea in the 1980s under the name of Rubbertuators. The retraction strength of the PAM is limited by the sum total strength of individual fibers in the woven shell. The exertion
Sociology of the body such as anorexia and bulimia, and on the other end, there is a growing epidemic of obesity, especially in the US. Both ideals have increased widely over the last few decades due in part to growing mass media coverage in which there are norms within society and the always growing pressure to either look and feel a certain way. Sociology of the body Sociology of the body is a branch of sociology studying the representations and social uses of the human body in modern societies. According to Thomas Laqueur, prior to the eighteenth century the predominant model for a social