Extending The Lossy Spring-Loaded Inverted Pendulum Model with a Slider-Crank Mechanism

Spring Loaded Inverted Pendulum (SLIP) model has a long history in describing running behavior in animals and humans as well as has been used as a design basis for robots capable of dynamic locomotion. Anchoring the SLIP for lossy physical systems resulted in newer models which are extended versions of original SLIP with viscous damping in the leg. However, such lossy models require an additional mechanism for pumping energy to the system to control the locomotion and to reach a limit-cycle. Some studies solved this problem by adding an actively controllable torque actuation at the hip joint and this actuation has been successively used in many robotic platforms, such as the popular RHex robot. However, hip torque actuation produces forces on the COM dominantly at forward direction with respect to ground, making height control challenging especially at slow speeds. The situation becomes more severe when the horizontal speed of the robot reaches zero, i.e. steady hoping without moving in horizontal direction, and the system reaches to singularity in which vertical degrees of freedom is completely lost. To this end, we propose an extension of the lossy SLIP model with a slider-crank mechanism, SLIP- SCM, that can generate a stable limit-cycle when the body is constrained to vertical direction. We propose an approximate analytical solution to the nonlinear system dynamics of SLIP- SCM model to characterize its behavior during the locomotion. Finally, we perform a fixed-point stability analysis on SLIP-SCM model using our approximate analytical solution and show that proposed model exhibits stable behavior in our range of interest.Comment: To appear in The 17th International Conference on Advanced Robotic

An economic analysis of tobacco control policies in Turkey

To evaluate the costs and benefits of various anti-smoking policy alternatives including taxation and four cessation programs, accounting for the demographic projections in 2011-2050 in Turkey. Demographic projections are combined with incidence and mortality rates of four major cigarette related diseases, price elasticity of cigarette demand and unit costs of nonprice measures to reduce demand in order to estimate the net present discounted values of policy alternatives. Among policy alternatives that yield the same amount of cigarette consumption, cessation programs yield lower costs to households and the society at large than taxation, while taxation is preferred by the public sector. Net benefit to the public sector as a function of the tax rate is a single-peaked Laffer curve. The public sector can obtain the highest net benefit if it raises the special consumption tax rate from its current level by nearly 9 percentage points. Although intervention programs emerge as the preferred anti-smoking alternatives, more research is needed on estimating the cost-effectiveness and social desirability of taxation and intervention programs in Turkey.

Optimal Cut-Off Points of 4-meter Gait Speed to Discriminate Functional Exercise Capacity and Health Status in Older patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Background: Gait speed, a vital sign of health and functional capacity, is commonly used to measure mobility. Although studies have assessed gait speed in older adults and individuals with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) separately, few have evaluated gait speed in older adults with COPD. Therefore, the primary objective of our study was to determine the threshold point for the 4-meter gait speed test (4MGS) to better discriminate between functional exercise capacity and health status in older patients with COPD. The second objective was to determine possible predictors of gait speed. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we assessed participants’ pulmonary function, dyspnea, health status (COPD Assessment Test [CAT]), gait speed (4MGS), functional exercise capacity (6-minute walk test [6MWT]), and physical activity. Results: For-ty-five older patients with COPD participated in this study. The predicted 6MWT and CAT scores were independent and significant determinants of the 4MGS score, explaining 54% of the vari-ance (p<0.001). We identified gait speeds of 0.96 m/s and 1.04 m/s as thresholds to predict abnormal functional exercise capacity (sensitivity 85% and specificity 56%) and impaired health status (sensitivity 90% and specificity 69%), respectively (p<0.05). Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that gait speed can discriminate between abnormal functional exercise capacity and impaired health status in older patients with COPD. Moreover, functional exercise capacity and health status are predictors of gait speed. © 2022 by The Korean Geriatrics Society

Examination of the Effect of Different Window Types on EnergyUse in Turkish Apartment Buildings

peer reviewedIn this study, the effect of different window types on energy use in Turkish apartment buildings is investigated. The example building is calibrated and used for analyses according to Turkish Insulation Standard TS 825 for the 5 different climate zones. In this study,, twelve different glazing types are selected for analysis. Also, the frame type changed to a PVC frame which is mostly used frame type in Turkey. As a result, the minimum heating loads are calculated for the W12 glazing type and the minimum cooling loads are calculated for the W1 glazing type. Thus, the U value is not the only value that affects the energy use intensity, solar heat gain coefficient (SHGC), and visible transmission (VLT) values are also important. Finally, the effect of glazing on the amount of CO2 emission is examined.11. Sustainable cities and communitie

Gait speed predictors and gait-speed cut-off score to discriminate asthma control status and physical activity in patients with asthma

Introduction: As a “vital sign” of health and functional capacity, gait speed is commonly used. However, there is insufficient evidence for possible determinants of gait speed in patients with asthma. The primary objective of the present study was to determine predictors of gait speed in patients with asthma. The second objective was to determine the cut-off point for the 4-minute Gait Speed (4MGS) to better discriminate asthma control status and physical activity in asthma. Material and methods: Fifty-seven patients with asthma were included in this cross-sectional study. Demographic and clinic characteristics, pulmonary function, asthma control status (ACT, Asthma Control Test), dyspnea, gait speed (4MGS), physical activity [International Physical Activity Questionnaire-Short Form (IPAQ-SF)] and activities of daily living were evaluated. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to investigate the possible predictors of gait speed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to determine whether usual gait speed had a discriminative value. Results: The stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that the ACT score and the IPAQ-SF score were significant and independent predictors of the 4MGS in patients with asthma explaining 40% of the variance in 4MGS (p < 0.001). The ROC curve showed a cut-off point of 1.06 m/s for the 4MGS for poorly controlled asthma and physical inactivity (p < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings indicate that asthma control status and physical activity can be independent predictors of gait speed in patients with asthma. In addition, gait speed may be discriminative to determine poorly controlled asthma and physical inactivity in patients with asthma. © 2022 PTChP

Possible role of GADD45γ methylation in diffuse large B-cell Lymphoma: Does it affect the progression and tissue involvement?

Objective: Diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) is the most common type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma among adults and is characterized by heterogeneous clinical, immunophenotypic, and genetic features. Different mechanisms deregulating cell cycle and apoptosis play a role in the pathogenesis of DLBCL. Growth arrest DNA damage-inducible 45 (GADD45γ) is an important gene family involved in these mechanisms. The aims of this study are to determine the frequency of GADD45γ methylation, to evaluate the correlation between GADD45γ methylation and protein expression, and to investigate the relation between methylation status and clinicopathologic parameters in DLBCL tissues and reactive lymphoid node tissues from patients with reactive lymphoid hyperplasia. Materials and Methods: Thirty-six tissue samples of DLBCL and 40 nonmalignant reactive lymphoid node tissues were analyzed in this study. Methylation-sensitive high-resolution melting analysis was used for the determination of GADD45γ methylation status. The GADD45γ protein expression was determined by immunohistochemistry. Results: GADD45γ methylation was frequent (50.0%) in DLBCL. It was also significantly higher in advanced-stage tumors compared with early-stage (p=0.041). In contrast, unmethylated GADD45γ was associated with nodal involvement as the primary anatomical site (p=0.040). Conclusion: The results of this study show that, in contrast to solid tumors, the frequency of GADD45γ methylation is higher and this epigenetic alteration of GADD45γ may be associated with progression in DLBCL. In addition, nodal involvement is more likely to be present in patients with unmethylated GADD45γ. © 2015 Turkish Society of Hematology. All rights reserved

Cognitive and motor performances in dual task in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a comparative study

Background Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) may display a motor and/or cognitive disadvantage during dual tasking. However, studies investigating dual task are quite limited in patients with COPD. Aims To compare cognitive and motor performances (i.e., muscle force production and functional balance/mobility together with a cognitive task) in dual task between patients with COPD and healthy controls. Methods Thirty-five clinically stable patients with COPD and 27 age- and sex-matched healthy controls participated in this cross-sectional controlled study. The muscle force production (knee extension muscle strength assessed with an isokinetic strength dynamometer) and functional balance/mobility (Timed Up and Go (TUG) test) were performed with and without a cognitive task. Dual-task interference (DTI) was assessed. Additionally, the rate of correct responses per second (RCR) was calculated to evaluate cognitive performance. Results The decrease in RCR(muscle force production)values was greater in the COPD group compared with the control group (p= 0.045). Similarly, the cognitive DTI in muscle force production test was higher in the control group than in the COPD group (p 0.05). Conclusion The study results indicate that in individuals with COPD, cognitive performance deteriorations are more pronounced than motor performance defects during dual tasking. Further studies are needed to investigate the effects of dual task taking into account this disadvantage in patients with COPD rather than focusing solely on motor performance

Does Plantar Pressure Distribution Influence the Lumbar Multifidus Muscle Thickness in Asymptomatic Individuals? A Preliminary Study

Background: Atrophy can occur in the lumbar multifidus (LM) muscle quickly as a result of various musculoskeletal problems. Knowing factors influencing muscle thickness of the LM will provide important clues about lumbopelvic stability. Objectives: Although there are several studies in the literature investigating the adverse effects of foot–ankle postural disorders on the lumbopelvic region, to our knowledge there has been no investigation of plantar pressure distribution (PPD) as a factor influencing muscle thickness of the LM. The aim of this study was to determine whether PPD could affect LM muscle thickness. Methods: This observational study consisted of 25 asymptomatic individuals. Ultrasonographic imaging was used to determine the thickness of the LM. All participants were subjected to PPD analysis using the Digital Biometry Scanning System and Milletrix software in 9 different plantar pressure zones. The Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients were used to examine the correlations between the LM muscle thickness and other variables. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis was used to determine the variables with the greatest influence on LM muscle thickness. Results: Peak pressures of medial and lateral zones of the heel were the significant and independent factors influencing static LM thickness, with 39.5% of the variance; moreover, the peak pressures of heel medial and fourth metatarsal bone were the significant and independent factors influencing dynamic LM thickness, with 38.7% of the variance. Conclusions: Plantar pressure distribution could be an important factor influencing LM thickness, although further research is required. Examining foot–ankle biomechanics may provide information about the stability of the LM. © 202

Data-Driven but Privacy-Conscious: Pedestrian Dataset De-identification via Full-Body Person Synthesis

The advent of data-driven technology solutions is accompanied by an increasing concern with data privacy. This is of particular importance for human-centered image recognition tasks, such as pedestrian detection, re-identification, and tracking. To highlight the importance of privacy issues and motivate future research, we motivate and introduce the Pedestrian Dataset De-Identification (PDI) task. PDI evaluates the degree of de-identification and downstream task training performance for a given de-identification method. As a first baseline, we propose IncogniMOT, a two-stage full-body de-identification pipeline based on image synthesis via generative adversarial networks. The first stage replaces target pedestrians with synthetic identities. To improve downstream task performance, we then apply stage two, which blends and adapts the synthetic image parts into the data. To demonstrate the effectiveness of IncogniMOT, we generate a fully de-identified version of the MOT17 pedestrian tracking dataset and analyze its application as training data for pedestrian re-identification, detection, and tracking models. Furthermore, we show how our data is able to narrow the synthetic-to-real performance gap in a privacy-conscious manner

15-Lipoxygenase-1 re-expression in colorectal cancer alters endothelial cell features through enhanced expression of TSP-1 and ICAM-1

15-lipoxygenase-1 (15-LOX-1) oxygenates linoleic acid to 13(S)-hydroxyoctadecadienoic acid (RODE). The enzyme is widely suppressed in different cancers and its re-expression has tumor suppressive effects. 15-LOX-1 has been shown to inhibit neoangiogenesis in colorectal cancer (CRC); in the present study we confirm this phenomenon and describe the mechanistic basis. We show that re-expression of 15-LOX-1 in CRC cell lines resulted in decreased transcriptional activity of HIF1 alpha and reduced the expression and secretion of VEGF in both normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Conditioned medium (CM) was obtained from CRC or prostate cancer cell lines re-expressing 15-LOX-1 (15-LOX-1CM). 15-LOX-1CM treated aortic rings from 6-week old C57BL/6 mice showed significantly less vessel sprouting and more organized structure of vascular network. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) incubated with 15-LOX-1CM showed reduced motility, enhanced expression of intercellular cell adhesion molecule (ICAM-1) and reduced tube formation but no change in proliferation or cell cycle distribution. HUVECs incubated with 13(S)-HODE partially phenocopied the effects of 15-LOX-1CM, showed reduced motility and enhanced expression of ICAM-1, but did not reduce tube formation, implying the importance of additional factors. Therefore, a Proteome Profiler Angiogenesis Array was carried out, which showed that Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1), a matrix glycoprotein known to strongly inhibit neovascularization, was expressed significantly more in HUVECs incubated with 15-LOX-1CM. TSP-1 blockage in HUVECs reduced the expression of ICAM-1 and enhanced cell motility, thereby providing a mechanism for reduced angiogenesis. The anti-angiogenic effects of 15-LOX-1 through enhanced expressions of ICAM-1 and TSP-1 are novel findings and should be explored further to develop therapeutic options