SMA based elbow exoskeleton for rehabilitation therapy and patient evaluation

A large number of musculoskeletal and neurological disorders can affect the upper limb limiting the subject's ability to perform activities of daily living. In recent years, rehabilitation therapies based on robotics have been proposed as complement to the work of therapists. This paper introduces a prototype of exoskeleton for the evaluation and rehabilitation therapy of the elbow joint in flexion extension and pronation-supination. The main novelty is the use of bioinspired actuators based on shape memory alloys (for the first time) in an upper limb rehabilitation exoskeleton. Because of this, the device presents a light weight, less than 1 kg, and noiseless operation, both characteristics are very beneficial for rehabilitation therapies. In addition, the prototype has been designed with low-cost electronics and materials, and the result is a wearable, comfortable, and cheap rehabilitation exoskeleton for the elbow joint. The exoskeleton can generate the joint torque (active mode) or it can be used as a passive tool. (The patient performs therapy by itself, carrying the device while it collects relevant movement data for evaluation.) The simulations and experimental tests validate the solution in the first phases of rehabilitation therapies when slow and repetitive movements are required.This work was supported in part by the Exoesqueleto para Diagnostico y Asistencia en Tareas de Manipulacion through the Spanish Research Project under Grant DPI2016-75346-R, and in part by the RoboCity2030-DIH-CM Madrid Robotics Digital Innovation Hub ("Robotica aplicada a la mejora de la calidad de vida de los ciudadanos. fase IV''), funded by the "Programas de Actividades I+D en la Comunidad de Madrid,'' and co-funded by the Structural Funds of the EU, under Grant S2018/NMT-4331

Diseño y desarrollo de software para experimentación virtual de física moderna

A nivel de licenciatura es común prescindir de laboratorios avanzados de física moderna debido a lo especializado del equipo y el riesgo que conlleva para el estudiante. Por otro lado el pretender entender alguna teoría solo a través de ecuaciones disminuye la atención de los estudiantes y por lo tanto su desempeño en el curso. Estas razones nos llevan a la creación de software con el cual los estudiantes experimenten virtualmente. En el experimento virtual se corroboran los conceptos físicos expuestos por el profesor en clase obteniendo una mejor asimilación de los mismos, así como la solución de problemas a través del experimento. El software usado incrementa la atención del estudiante ya que analiza de manera gráfica y animada los conceptos, esto lo hace más sencillo, según comentarios de los estudiantes en las encuestas. En este trabajo se presenta el avance del diseño y creación de software para experimentación virtual de física moderna. ABSTRACT At the undergraduate level is common without advanced modern physics laboratories due to specialized equipment and the risk involved for the student. On the other hand pretend to understand some theory only through equations reduces students' attention and therefore their performance in the course. These reasons lead to the creation of software with which students experience virtually. In the virtual experiment physical concepts presented in class by the teacher getting better assimilate them, as well as solving problems through experiments corroborate. The software used increased student attention and analyzing graphical and animated concepts way, this makes it easier, according to comments from students in the polls. In this paper we advance the design and creation of software for virtual testing of modern physics is presented

Assessment of different spent mushroom substrates to bioremediate soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons

Bioremediation techniques are being developed as substitutes for physical–chemical methodologies that are expensive and not sustainable. For example, using the agricultural waste spent mushroom substrate (SMS) which contains valuable microbiota for soil bioremediation. In this work, SMSs of four cultivated fungal species, Pleurotus eryngii, Lentinula edodes, Pleurotus ostreatus, and Agaricus bisporus were evaluated for the bioremediation of soils contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs). The bioremediation test was carried out by mixing the four different SMSs with the TPH-contaminated soil in comparison with an unamended soil control to assess its natural attenuation. To determine the most efficient bioremediation strategy, hydrolase, dehydrogenase, and ligninolytic activities, ergosterol content, and percentage of TPHs degradation (total and by chains) were determined at the end of the assay at 40 days. The application of SMS significantly improved the degradation of TPHs with respect to the control. The most effective spent mushroom substrate to degrade TPHs was A. bisporus, followed by L. edodes and P. ostreatus. Similar results were obtained for the removal of aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons. The results showed the effectiveness of SMS to remove aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons from C10 to C35. This work demonstrates an alternative to valorizing an abundant agricultural waste as SMS to bioremediate contaminated soil

Design of a hydroponic test to evaluate the biostimulant potential of new organic and organomineral products

Currently, the use of biostimulants is increasing due to the need for greater productivity in agriculture. The European Union presented a new fertilizer regulation, UE 2019/1009, appearing for the first time the concept of biostimulants. Its main objective is to improve the efficiency of plants in the absorption and assimilation of nutrients or their tolerance to biotic or abiotic stresses, regardless of the nutrient content of the product. The objective of this work consisted in the development of a methodology to test in a short-term experiment the efficiency of commercial products as potential biostimulants in a crop of Capsicum annuum L. in strictly hydroponic conditions. Plants were irrigated with the respective product at the recommended dose in water, without the addition of other nutritional sources for 15 days. At the end of the test, the weights of the root and aerial part, the humidity, the chlorophyll indexes, and nutritional leaf content, as well as the volume and morphology of the roots and plants were obtained to evaluate the biostimulant effects on the plant growth and development. The water consumption was also evaluated to analyze whether any of the products generates greater water savings. The study concluded that the nutritive solutions with biostimulants produced a greater increase in the weight of the plant and a lower percentage of leaf moisture, as well as higher values of leaf chlorophyll. On the other hand, it was humic, fulvic, and algae biostimulants that presented the best values in terms of water savings. The methodology developed could be set to test in the short term the biostimulant potential of new productsThis research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector

Thinning of the Monte Perdido Glacier in the Spanish Pyrenees since 1981

Producción CientíficaThis paper analyzes the evolution of the Monte Perdido Glacier, the third largest glacier in the Pyrenees, from 1981 to the present. We assessed the evolution of the glacier's surface area by analysis of aerial photographs from 1981, 1999, and 2006, and changes in ice volume by geodetic methods with digital elevation models (DEMs) generated from topographic maps (1981 and 1999), airborne lidar (2010) and terrestrial laser scanning (TLS, 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014) data. We interpreted the changes in the glacier based on climate data from nearby meteorological stations. The results indicate that the degradation of this glacier accelerated after 1999. The rate of ice surface loss was almost three times greater during 1999–2006 than during earlier periods. Moreover, the rate of glacier thinning was 1.85 times faster during 1999–2010 (rate of surface elevation change  = −8.98 ± 1.80 m, glacier-wide mass balance  = −0.73 ± 0.14 m w.e. yr−1) than during 1981–1999 (rate of surface elevation change  = −8.35 ± 2.12 m, glacier-wide mass balance  = −0.42 ± 0.10 m w.e. yr−1). From 2011 to 2014, ice thinning continued at a slower rate (rate of surface elevation change  = −1.93 ± 0.4 m yr−1, glacier-wide mass balance  = −0.58 ± 0.36 m w.e. yr−1). This deceleration in ice thinning compared to the previous 17 years can be attributed, at least in part, to two consecutive anomalously wet winters and cool summers (2012–2013 and 2013–2014), counteracted to some degree by the intense thinning that occurred during the dry and warm 2011–2012 period. However, local climatic changes observed during the study period do not seem sufficient to explain the acceleration of ice thinning of this glacier, because precipitation and air temperature did not exhibit statistically significant trends during the study period. Rather, the accelerated degradation of this glacier in recent years can be explained by a strong disequilibrium between the glacier and the current climate, and likely by other factors affecting the energy balance (e.g., increased albedo in spring) and feedback mechanisms (e.g., heat emitted from recently exposed bedrock and debris covered areas).Ministerio de Economía, Industria y Competitividad - IBERNIEVE (project CGL2014-52599-P)Ministerio de Agricultura y Pesca, Alimentación y Medio Ambiente (project 844/2013

Enhancement of methane production from livestock manure with pre-treatments based in fungi of genus Pleurotus

Livestock manure, traditionally used just as fertilizer, can be energetically valued to produce biogas as an attractive alternative, since nowadays, energy production and its cost stands for a pressing problem around the world. Nevertheless, the presence of lignin in manure hinders the production of methane. This could be improved by pre-treating the manure with ligninolytic fungi, able to break lignin and therefore facilitate the hydrolysis step for the hydrolytic bacteria, yielding higher volumes of biomethane. Three strategies of incubation with living fungi of genus Pleurotus were evaluated to enhance methane production from livestock manure mixed with bedding material: short term (two weeks 2L container) and long term (two months 400 L container) and 24 h (2 L container) with a crude water extraction of Pleurotus extracellular enzymes. The positive effect of the fungal treatment was observed in the three strategies obtaining an increase in methane production with respect to the control manure of 7% at short term, 111% at long term and 173% (crude enzymatic extract). Consequently, the strategy of using crude enzyme extracts from Pleurotus to improve hydrolysis step as pre-treatment of manure should be considered as a novel, easy, cheap and promising tool to optimize methane productionThis research was funded by a contract with the company Kepler Ingeniería y Ecogestión SL managed by Foundation from University Autónoma of Madrid (FUAM) and with reference 01091

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2023.140364

The fate of the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole in amended soils remains unclear, moreover in basic soils. This work aimed to assess the adsorption, leaching, and biodegradation of sulfamethoxazole in unamended and biochar from holm oak pruning (BC)- and green compost from urban pruning (CG)-amended basic soil. Adsorption properties of the organic amendments and soil were determined by adsorption isotherms of sulfamethoxazole. The leachability of this antibiotic from unamended (Soil) and BC- (Soil + BC) and GC- (Soil + GC) amended soil was determined by leaching columns using water as solvent up to 250 mL. Finally, Soil, Soil + BC, and Soil + GC were spiked with sulfamethoxazole and incubated for 42 days. The degradation rate and microbial activity were periodically monitored. Adsorption isotherms showed poor adsorption of sulfamethoxazole in unamended basic soil. BC and CG showed good adsorption capacity. Soil + BC and Soil + GC increased the sulfamethoxazole adsorption capacity of the soil. The low sulfamethoxazole adsorption of Soil produced quick and intense sulfamethoxazole leaching. Soil + BC reduced the sulfamethoxazole leaching, unlike to Soil + GC which enhanced it concerning Soil. The pH of adsorption isotherms and leachates indicate that the anion of sulfamethoxazole was the major specie in unamended and amended soil. CG enhanced the microbial activity of the soil and promoted the degradability of sulfamethoxazole. In contrast, the high adsorption and low biostimulation effect of BC in soil reduced the degradation of sulfamethoxazole. The half-life of sulfamethoxazole was 2.6, 6.9, and 11.9 days for Soil + GC, Soil, and Soil + BC, respectively. This work shows the benefits and risks of two organic amendments, BC and GC, for the environmental fate of sulfamethoxazole. The different nature of the organic carbon of the amendments was responsible for the different effects on the soilPDC 2021-120744-I0

Supraspinal shaping of adaptive transitions in the state of functional connectivity between segmentally distributed dorsal horn neuronal populations in response to nociception and antinociception

In the anesthetized cat the correlation between the ongoing cord dorsum potentials(CDPs) recorded from different lumbar spinal segments has a non-random structure,suggesting relatively stable patterns of functional connectivity between the dorsalhorn neuronal ensembles involved in the generation of these potentials. During thenociception induced by the intradermic injection of capsaicin, the patterns of segmentalcorrelation between the spontaneous CDPs acquire other non-random configurationsthat are temporarily reversed to their pre-capsaicin state by the systemic injectionof lidocaine, a procedure known to decrease the manifestation of neuropathic painin both animals and humans. We have now extended these studies and utilizedmachine learning for the automatic extraction and selection of particular classes ofCDPs according to their shapes and amplitudes. By using a Markovian analysis, wedisclosed the transitions between the different kinds of CDPs induced by capsaicinand lidocaine and constructed a global model based on the changes in the behaviorof the CDPs generated along the whole set of lumbar segments. This allowed theidentification of the different states of functional connectivity within the whole ensembleof dorsal horn neurones attained during nociception and their transitory reversal bysystemic administration of lidocaine in preparations with the intact neuroaxis and afterspinalization. The present observations provide additional information on the stateof self-organized criticality that leads to the adaptive behavior of the dorsal hornneuronal networks during nociception and antinociception both shaped by supraspinaldescending influencesPeer ReviewedPostprint (published version