499 research outputs found
Somatic senses required for the emotional design of upper limb prosthesis
Despite the technological advances associated with prostheses, the total embodiment is still the great challenge in the segment of assistive technology. One of the main aspects is that the bionic member’s sensibility is not responsive to the environment that surrounds it. The purpose of this study aims to identify the perceptual modalities of the somatic senses that are required for a more sensible prosthesis. The methodological strategy contemplates literary research and proposes an interrelationship between neuroscience with philosophical/cultural studies, which regards the different concepts of sensory experience. Such data were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. The main conclusion points out that it would be important to unite the nine physiological requirements identified in the state of the art, with the ontological image construction of the prosthesis, in order to create a sensory experience that, in addition to the perceptive organs, builds up by the visual areas of the brain.This work is financed by Project “Deus ex Machina”, NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000026, funded by CCDRN, through Sistema de Apoio à Investigação Científica e Tecnológica (Projetos Estruturados I&D&I) of Programa Operacional Regional do Norte, from Portugal 2020 and byProject UID/CTM/00264/2019 of 2C2T –Centro de Ciência e Tecnologia Têxtil, funded by National Founds through FCT/MCTES
Development of Cutaneous Leishmaniasis after Leishmania Skin Test
Thirty-year-old female with a previous history of a cutaneous ulcer suspicious of
leishmaniasis 20 years ago presented with a new complaint of a depressed papular lesion
8 × 7 mm in the right lower extremity. The lesion was of 10-day duration. Because early
cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) lesions may have a non-ulcerated appearance, a Leishmania skin test (LST) was performed on the forearm with a strong positive result
(38 × 32 mm). After 8 days, the lesion in the leg, which was diagnosed as folliculitis, completely healed. However, a typical CL ulcer (26 × 24 mm) developed at the LST site.
Histopathology of the new lesion did not identifiy parasites, but the findings were
consistent with a diagnosis of CL. Further analysis identified amastigotes by
immunohistochemical stain. Mononuclear cells harvested from the patient were
stimulated with Leishmania antigen and showed high levels of production of both tumor
necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) and interferon-gamma (IFN-γ): 2,943 pg/mL and 2,313 pg/mL, respectively. After 40 days of treatment with antimony and pentoxifylline, the
ulcer resolved. The development of CL at the LST site suggests a strong Th1 immune
response, and it is an in vivo documentation of the role of the host immune response in
the pathology of CL. It teaches us that LST should be cautiously, if at all, used in
patients with self-healing CL ulcers
Federalism, ICT and development in the Global South
This paper builds on the ICT and development literature to answer the question on what indicators better represent ICT institutional background in the Global South, namely Central America, the Caribbean Islands, South America, Africa and South Asia. It delves into the institutional variable of federalism widely used in comparative analyzes tackling the correlation between e.g. broadband deployment and economic development, by finding granulated variables that portray a more precise scenario of institutional commensurability among countries being compared for public policy purposes. Its main underpinnings are the concept of information revolution and the methodology put forward by the Telecommunications Law Indicators for Comparative Studies (TLICS) Model. Six sets of federative indicators on revenue, fiscal transfer, regulatory jurisdiction, adjudication, planning, and media content regulation are put together to compare ICT federal environment in the Global South as a groundwork for the ICT comparative research. The empirical universe of the paper encompassed thirty-eight countries from Central and South America, the Caribbean Islands, Africa and South Asia, that form a potpourri of thirty officially unitary countries – Angola, Belize, Bolivia, Cabo Verde, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mozambique, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Sao Tome and Principe, Singapore, Suriname, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay –, and eight federal countries – Argentina, Brazil, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, and Venezuela. The article is organized in three main parts. A brief description of the paper assumptions is performed in the first part. The second part applies TLICS variables to sets of the aforementioned states. The third part delves into the comparison of the states analyzed by means of categorizing the differences and commonalities revealed by more than one thousand five hundred variables collected in the legal and institutional framework of those countries and finally summarized in the ICT federal index (IFI) and ICT unitary index (IUI). We also test the association between federalism as the outcome and each of the independent (explanatory) variables proposed by the TLICS model by applying statistical tests (Fisher exact test, relative risk, and odds ratio). The only ICT variable significantly associated with a country being classified as a federal state is tax in the telecom and broadcast. As a main outcome, based on data collected from the institutional background and legal frameworks of those countries, we found clusters of federal commonalities in federal and unitary countries of the region. With that, we proposed two indices that better represent federal and unitary institutional backgrounds: The ICT Federal Index (IFI); and the ICT Unitary Index (IUI). They provide a real picture of their institutional background for ICT and development comparative purposes and gather sets of countries with similar institutional backgrounds upon which the ICT and Development literature may rely on to explain different outcomes from public policies or investments on ICT in countries that share a common institutional background, as far as the institutional variable of federalism is concerned
Handling Time and Bite Mass Mechanisms in Large Herbivores: Contrasts between Sward Structure and Grazing Methods
Grazing is a time-dependent process where jaw movements of prehension, handling and chewing compete with them (Laca et al. 1994; Ungar et al. 2006). The grazing efficiency is dependent of bite mass and time per bite. Bite mass has been related to sward structure by forage height, structural components (Cangiano et al. 2002). In rotational stocking this effect becomes more pronounced, especially under high grazing down levels. Consequently, there is a progressive reduction in short-term intake rate (Fonseca et al. in press). New management targets should be proposed based on the predominant influence of sward structure in short-term intake rate by grazing animals (Carvalho et al. 2007). We hypothesise that intake potential of animals grazing tropical pastures will be reduced due to higher constraints in bite formation when compared to temperate pastures.
This study aimed to investigate the intake process of heifers under the influence of different sward heights and grazing down levels in two contrasting - tropical and temperate - forage species
O sistema de produção de gado de corte, implantado no CNPGC.
Caracterização do ecossistema. Características fisicas. Benfeitorias. Animais. Mão-de-obra. Tecnologia utilizada. Alimentação do rebanho. Manejo das pastagens. Reprodução e manejo do rebanho. Reprodução. Fase de cria. Fase de recria. Engorda. Seleção. Sanidade. Registros de controles.bitstream/item/104704/1/Sistema-de-producao-de-gado-de-corte.pd
Prime Focus Spectrograph - Subaru's future -
The Prime Focus Spectrograph (PFS) of the Subaru Measurement of Images and
Redshifts (SuMIRe) project has been endorsed by Japanese community as one of
the main future instruments of the Subaru 8.2-meter telescope at Mauna Kea,
Hawaii. This optical/near-infrared multi-fiber spectrograph targets cosmology
with galaxy surveys, Galactic archaeology, and studies of galaxy/AGN evolution.
Taking advantage of Subaru's wide field of view, which is further extended with
the recently completed Wide Field Corrector, PFS will enable us to carry out
multi-fiber spectroscopy of 2400 targets within 1.3 degree diameter. A
microlens is attached at each fiber entrance for F-ratio transformation into a
larger one so that difficulties of spectrograph design are eased. Fibers are
accurately placed onto target positions by positioners, each of which consists
of two stages of piezo-electric rotary motors, through iterations by using
back-illuminated fiber position measurements with a wide-field metrology
camera. Fibers then carry light to a set of four identical fast-Schmidt
spectrographs with three color arms each: the wavelength ranges from 0.38
{\mu}m to 1.3 {\mu}m will be simultaneously observed with an average resolving
power of 3000. Before and during the era of extremely large telescopes, PFS
will provide the unique capability of obtaining spectra of 2400
cosmological/astrophysical targets simultaneously with an 8-10 meter class
telescope. The PFS collaboration, led by IPMU, consists of USP/LNA in Brazil,
Caltech/JPL, Princeton, & JHU in USA, LAM in France, ASIAA in Taiwan, and
NAOJ/Subaru.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, submitted to "Ground-based and Airborne
Instrumentation for Astronomy IV, Ian S. McLean, Suzanne K. Ramsay, Hideki
Takami, Editors, Proc. SPIE 8446 (2012)
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