Cardiac defense response, cognitive flexibility and adaptative emotion regulation strategies

Treball Final de Màster Universitari en Investigació en Cervell i Conducta. Codi: SBM024. Curs: 2019/2020.Cardiac Defense Response (CDR) is a dynamic pattern of cardiac reactivity in response to aversive, intense and unexpected stimuli consisting of two successive accelerating/decelerating components, whose psychological significance is attributed to both attentional and motivational/emotional processes. According to the defense cascade model, the CDR second accelerative component indicates the activation of the aversivedefensive motivational system. This research aimed to analyze the relationship between CDR, levels of anxiety/depression, emotional regulation, and cognitive flexibility in a sample of healthy participants (N = 120). The experimental task consisted in the presentation of an intense aversive sound (500 ms, 105 dB) after an 8-minute rest period to prompt the CDR. A battery of questionnaires (HADS, CERQ, and CFI) was administered before the task began. Preliminary analyses did show no differences in the CDR pattern between subjects scoring high vs. low in anxiety and depression. We divided the sample into accelerators and decelerators according to their change scores obtained in the CDR second accelerative component. Significant differences were found in specific emotion regulation strategies and cognitive flexibility, with accelerators scoring significantly less in both self-report measures. Our findings suggest that cognitive flexibility and adaptive emotional regulation strategies might have an impact on cardiac defense response. It is possible that difficulties in regulating ongoing emotions might be associated with low cognitive flexibility, being key in the association of CDR and disease previously reported in the literature

Decelerator elements for ramp transfer points in fruit packing lines

Two different decelerator elements used to reduce impacts on fruits on ramp transfer points in fruit packing lines were designed and tested. The performance of these elements, a powered decelerator and a multiple curtain, was compared to commercial decelerators (blankets). A ramp of length 60 cm was placed at an angle of 30º in an experimental fruit packing line between a roller transporter and a conveyor. The decelerators were placed on top of the ramp. Different tests were carried out to study the performance of the decelerators using instrumented spheres (IS 100) of various sizes. Results showed that decelerators can reduce the impact intensity down to safe thresholds. The powered decelerator was the most effective because it reduced the speed of fruits and did not cause retention of the fruit, when correctly regulated

2020 NASA Technology Taxonomy: 2015 Technology Areas to 2020 Taxonomy Areas Crosswalk

To help users of the 2020 Taxonomy navigate changes from the 2015 Technology Area Breakdown Structure (TABS), this companion document provides a crosswalk between the 2015 Technology Areas (TAs) and the updated 2020 Taxonomy areas (TXs)

Inflatable structure for aerospace application: Historical perspective and future outlook

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Aerocapture Inflatable Decelerator for Planetary Entry

Forward Attached Inflatable Decelerators, more commonly known as inflatable aeroshells, provide an effective, cost efficient means of decelerating spacecrafts by using atmospheric drag for aerocapture or planetary entry instead of conventional liquid propulsion deceleration systems. Entry into planetary atmospheres results in significant heating and aerodynamic pressures which stress aeroshell systems to their useful limits. Incorporation of lightweight inflatable decelerator surfaces with increased surface-area footprints provides the opportunity to reduce heat flux and induced temperatures, while increasing the payload mass fraction. Furthermore, inflatable aeroshell decelerators provide the needed deceleration at considerably higher altitudes and Mach numbers when compared with conventional rigid aeroshell entry systems. Inflatable aeroshells also provide for stowage in a compact space, with subsequent deployment of a large-area, lightweight heatshield to survive entry heating. Use of a deployable heatshield decelerator enables an increase in the spacecraft payload mass fraction and may eliminate the need for a spacecraft backshell

Rotary-Wing Decelerators for Probe Descent Through the Atmosphere of Venus

An innovative concept is proposed for atmospheric entry probe deceleration, wherein one or more deployed rotors (in autorotation or wind-turbine flow states) on the aft end of the probe effect controlled descent. This concept is particularly oriented toward probes intended to land safely on the surface of Venus. Initial work on design trade studies is discussed

When Handsets Became Smart

The main cause of the intra industry value migration is that the base of competition has shifted from product performance to flexibility, differentiation and speed which in this industry means ecosystem, brand and time-to-market. The asymmetric business models and the two-sided platforms have proven to be a cause of inter industry value migration. This is a natural cause of their nature, since resources is spent in one end and value is absorbed in the other, and if these parts operate in different industries, inter industry value migration has to happen. Our value flow framework has proven to be a useful tool to identify, measure and evaluate a value flow, regardless of the industry level it occurs on