Mechanics and electronics of the footballer autonomous mobile robot

This paper describes an Autonomous Mobile Robot which plays football. This project was developed by three senior students from the Industrial Electronics Engineering course during their probation period. The rules dictated the same structure for every team but then each team would solve, develop and use different electronics, sensory systems, playing algorithms, etc. This robot uses one major sensor which is a vision system with the use of a colour camera. This robot uses also a convex mirror placed on its top looking downwards with the video camera pointing to it. This way, the robot can see both goals, the ball and other robots, all the time. This paper describes the mechanics involved and the electronics. The encoders to detect position and orientation of the robot, the motor and its control, as well as the ball holder mechanics system are described

Focal nodular hyperplasia of the liver

A benign, non-neoplastic, reactive growth of the liver, focal nodular hyperplasia (FNH) of the liver was first clearly described by Edmondson in the 1950’s, although there are various prior reports that likely represent the same lesion. A variety of synonyms have been applied including focal cirrhosis, pedunculated adenoma, solitary hyperplastic nodule, mixed adenoma, hamartoma and hamartomatous cholangeiohepatoma

Hereditary hemochromatosis

Hereditary hemochromatosis (HH) is the most commonly identified autosomal recessive genetic disorder in the white population, characterized by increased intestinal iron absorption and secondary abnormal accumulation in parenchymal organs, not infrequently accompanied by functional impairment. This entity is associated with mutations of the HFE gene (located on the short arm of chromosome 6 at location 6p22.2; closely linked to the HLA-A3 locus), which encodes the HFE protein, a membrane protein thought to regulate iron absorption by affecting the interaction between transferrin receptor and transferrin

Ureteric carcinoma

Ureteric neoplasms are rare tumors. The annual incidence (during the period 1995-2005) was 0,95-1,15/100.000 person-year. They are almost always urothelial tumors, especially papillary transitional cell carcinoma, as in the image above, and are less common than tumors of the renal pelvis and 10 times less common than urinary bladder tumors. In a large series of 1249 cases of urothelial neoplasms of the upper urinary tract (pelvis and ureter) (upper urinary tract tumors; UUTT) 34% of the cases involved the ureter, and in 8% the neoplasia was found in both sites concomitantly. Concomitance with bladder tumors is also observed, either synchronously or methachronously. When metachronous; bladder tumors precede UUTT in 10,2% of cases, and when synchronous in 49%

Carcinoid heart disease

The images are of the tricuspid valve and the pulmonic valve from the autopsy of a patient with mid-gut neuroendocrine carcinoma, carcinoid pattern, extensively metastatic to the liver. The patient had typical “carcinoid syndrome,” including clinical evidence of tricuspid and pulmonic stenosis and insufficiency. The tricuspid valve (left) shows slight retraction and distortion by the overlying endothelial deposition of plaque composed of acid mucopolysaccharide-rich matrix with varying amounts of smooth muscle cells and collagen fibers. The plaque material causes partial coalescence of chordae tendinae with effacement of the usual delicate strands. The pulmonic valve (right) shows more marked distortion with shrinkage and obliteration of cusps and coalescence at the commissures. Beneath the plaque the valves are intact

Clostridium difficile infection

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is a significant and increasing medical problem, surpassing methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus as the most common hospital-onset or facility-associated infection, and a key element in the challenging battle against hospital-acquired infections. This Gram-positive, anaerobic, spore-forming colonizes the intestinal tract after antibiotics have altered the normal intestinal flora