Team Nathan Suspension

Nathan Cooper is an 8-year old boy with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA has affected Nathan’s muscle development and requires him to use the Standing Dani™ mobility device. The Standing Dani is a motorized standing wheelchair, or Wheelstand. Nathan controls and uses it to get around. Though the Standing Dani performs well for most functions, it has some distinct issues. The primary issue that this project addresses is its lack of suspension and the discomfort that Nathan feels as a result. After talking with our client, we developed several specifications generally related to geometry, safety, vehicle dynamics, and reliability. Many possible suspension solutions were developed using three methods of idea generation. A rear trailing arm suspension paired with pneumatic casters in the front was chosen as the final concept. From this concept, we designed a system that was made up of four basic components: front casters, frame, trailing arm linkages, and a spring-shock assembly. The final design is supported with hand calculations involving the static system and a dynamic analysis of the suspension behavior using MATLAB®. The manufacturing and testing portions of the final design were completed in the final three months of the project. We are confident that the design that has been developed will suit the needs of Nathan and make his daily activities all the more enjoyable

Workshop on Exercise Prescription for Long-Duration Space Flight

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration has a dedicated history of ensuring human safety and productivity in flight. Working and living in space long term represents the challenge of the future. Our concern is in determining the effects on the human body of living in space. Space flight provides a powerful stimulus for adaptation, such as cardiovascular and musculoskeletal deconditioning. Extended-duration space flight will influence a great many systems in the human body. We must understand the process by which this adaptation occurs. The NASA is agressively involved in developing programs which will act as a foundation for this new field of space medicine. The hallmark of these programs deals with prevention of deconditioning, currently referred to as countermeasures to zero g. Exercise appears to be most effective in preventing the cardiovascular and musculoskeletal degradation of microgravity

Evaluation of motion comfort using advanced active human body models and efficient simplified models

Active muscles are crucial for maintaining postural stability when seated in a moving vehicle. Advanced active 3D non-linear full body models have been developed for impact and comfort simulation, including large numbers of individual muscle elements, and detailed non-linear models of the joint structures. While such models have an apparent potential to provide insight into postural stabilization, they are computationally demanding, making them less practical in particular for driving comfort where long time periods are to be studied. In vibrational comfort and in general biomechanical research, linearized models are effectively used. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of simplified 3D full-body human models to capture comfort provoked by whole-body vibrations. An efficient seated human body model is developed and validated using experimental data. We evaluate the required complexity in terms of joints and degrees of freedom for the spine, and explore how well linear spring-damper models can approximate reflexive postural stabilization. Results indicate that linear stiffness and damping models can well capture the human response. The results are improved by adding proportional integral derivative (PID) and head-in-space (HIS) controllers to maintain the defined initial body posture. The integrator is shown to be essential to prevent drift from the defined posture. The joint angular relative displacement is used as the input reference to each PID controller. With this model, a faster than real-time solution is obtained when used with a simple seat model. The paper also discusses the advantages and disadvantages of various models and provides insight into which models are more appropriate for motion comfort analysis

Risk factors and the effectiveness of back belts in the prevention of back pain amongst forklift drivers subject to whole body vibration exposure

Motivation: Back pain is a major cause of absenteeism, lost work time and increased compensation and medical costs amongst workers and has been estimated to cost $20 billion annually in the United States. Back pain has long been associated with the driving of forklifts, and is a complex area of occupational health and safety, having many risk factors leading to musculo-skeletal injury. The health effects in this occupational group in South Africa, could be affecting upwards of 90 000 forklift drivers, and has a great direct and indirect influence on people's health at work as well as productivity and the economy. Purpose: To characterise the problem of back pain amongst forklift drivers with a view to reducing the morbidity from back pain, by evaluating the effectiveness or the use of back belts. Aim: To identify risk factors associated with back pain amongst forklift drivers at Portnet (handling wharf side cargo) in two cohorts of forklift drivers one using back belts and one control group, and to evaluate the relationship between back pain, the occupational environment (i.e.: forklift driving) and other associated factors, in order to establish the effectiveness of back belts in decreasing the severity and prevalence of back pain amongst forklift drivers. Objectives: 1.) To describe demographic and other relevant back pain risk factors in the two cohorts and to identify any significant differences between them. 2.) To characterise the compliance and frequency of use of the back belts by the user group. 3.) To measure vibration experienced in typical driving activities in the study population in order to characterise whole-body vibration exposures of the study subjects. 4.) To ascertain opinions and beliefs regarding back belts amongst users. 5.) To analyse, characterise and determine if any significant differences exist between the two groups as to the prevalence and severity of back pain, and what factors are associated with increased risk of back pain. Specifically to identify whether (a.) The frequency and/or intensity of use of back belts are associated with reduced risk for back pain, when controlling for all other risk factors, and (b.) Whether other factors modify this relationship. Study Design: Cross Sectional Study Design Subjects: Drivers of 3, 4, 4.5 and 5 ton forklifts in the permanent employment of Portnet, Durban, from the Point, Maydon Wharf (back belt group) and Combi-Terminal (control group) areas. Main Outcome Measures: Onset of back pain after starting driving, prevalence of regular back pain (ever), point prevalence (pain today), 1 year prevalence, severity of back pain, duration of pain, and treatment/medication sought for back pain. Results: The majority of forklift drivers (89%) in the study suffer from chronic back pain that is of a constant severity, and is significantly linked to the driving activities. The back belt wearers were more likely to suffer from back pain then the non-users (92% vs 80%). However, the belt wearers reported less severe pain than the control group, which could indicate the presence of a placebo effect related to the belt use. The belt users were more likely to suffer from pain of a longer duration, with less fluctuation in severity than the controls, and therefore a more constant type of pain (44% vs 41 %). The majority of bell wearers expressed the belief that the belts helped to reduce the back pain (81%). However, more objective measures do not bear out this conclusion when prevalence and severity of pain are compared to the control group. Drivers with back pain were more likely to wear the back belts and compliance was reduced as the prevalence of pain was reduced. These results may have been confounded by variations in the whole-body vibration exposure in the various test areas, and the inability to characterise individual whole-body vibration exposures and dose-response relationships. Conclusion: The prevalence of back pain in this study was high, with most drivers suffering from pain in the lower back region (79%), which was characterised as constant or chronic pain experienced either during or shortly after driving. Whole-body vibration levels were high in all test areas (1.9 m/s⁻², 1.3 m/s⁻² and 1.1 m/s⁻² predicted), and consistently exceeded the EEC machinery directive standards of 0.5 m/s⁻². Compliance with the use of back belts amongst drivers was high (90%), with most drivers (76%) wearing the belts on a regular basis whilst driving. The evidence for the effectiveness of back belts as a control measure against whole-body vibration remains obscure, and other more tested controls such as engineering, administrative and training of drivers should be implemented to address the problem following a holistic approach

Design of innovative formulations baby size for individualized therapy

Trabalho Final de Mestrado Integrado, Ciências Farmacêuticas, 2021, Universidade de Lisboa, Faculdade de Farmácia.Os recém-nascidos são uma das populações com menos medicamentos aprovados. A sua fisiologia e farmacodinâmica tão específicas, dificulta o estudo e previsão da forma como os fármacos vão atuar no seu organismo. Além disso, por serem tão diferentes dos adultos, é necessário ter em atenção muito mais pormenores aquando do desenvolvimento de uma formulação para esta população. Os carateres organolépticos, a osmolaridade e os próprios excipientes utilizados devem ser cuidadosamente estudados para que não constituam um risco para os recém-nascidos e ao mesmo tempo apresentem compatibilidade com as suas caraterísticas fisiológicas e farmacológicas. Nos últimos anos, tem havido um esforço coletivo para que o desenvolvimento e aprovação de novas formas farmacêuticas, especificamente desenhadas e pensadas para esta população, tenha uma maior aposta por parte da indústria farmacêutica. Ainda assim, ainda são poucos os casos em que estes incentivos levaram a uma aprovação real de medicamentos apropriados para os recém-nascidos. Apesar de algumas formas farmacêuticas como as suspensões, soluções e supositórios serem ainda a grande maioria das apresentações disponíveis para esta faixa etária, tem- se vindo a estudar a sua adequação a esta. As suas desvantagens fazem com que, por vezes, sejam desaconselhadas, mas ainda assim, na prática clínica, ainda se vê um amplo uso destas, por falta de formulações apropriadas para os recém-nascidos. A manipulação, muitas vezes utilizada para cobrir a falta de especialidades farmacêuticas, é também uma área que deve ser estudada e atualizada. É necessário reunir as evidências disponíveis para que globalmente haja a maior uniformidade possível e, assim, permitir o tratamento igual a todas as crianças. Novas formas farmacêuticas em neonatologia, como mini comprimidos, filmes e comprimidos orodispersíveis, geles, entre outros, podem ser algumas hipóteses viáveis para administração de fármacos a recém-nascidos pela sua dose precisa, baixo custo, fácil transporte e por não necessitarem de ser deglutidos.Newborns are one of the populations for which fewer medications have been approved. Their physiology and pharmacodynamics are specific, which complicates the study and prediction of how drugs will act in their body. Moreover, because newborns are so different from adults, more details need to be considered when developing formulations aimed at this population. The organoleptic characters, osmolarity and the excipients used should be carefully studied so that they do not pose a risk to newborns and, simultaneously, they must be compatible with their physiological and pharmacological characteristics. In recent years, there has been a collective effort to develop and approve new pharmaceutical forms for the newborn population, with an increasing investment by the pharmaceutical industry. Still, there are only a few cases where these incentives have led to a real approval of age-appropriate medical products. Traditional pharmaceutical forms available to newborns, are mainly represented by suspensions, solutions and suppositories, which are still widely used in the clinical practice. These forms, however, have several disadvantages which would discourage their use if appropriate formulations for newborns were available. Compounding, often used to cover the lack of approved medicines, is a pharmaceutical area that should be studied, updated and considered when developing medication for newborns. It is necessary to gather the available evidence so that, overall, there is the greatest possible uniformity and, thus, allow equal treatment to all children. Additionally, new pharmaceutical forms, such as mini tablets, orodispersible films and wafers, gels, among others, may be viable hypotheses to deliver medicines to neonates for its precise dose, low cost, easy transportation and for overcoming the need of swallowing