Assistive Robotic Hand Orthosis (ARHO) controlled with EMG: evaluation of a preliminary prototype*

Hand impairment severely limits basic activities of daily living (ADL). The use of motorized hand orthoses may provide enough functional assistance to perform basic tasks, such as grasping objects. Several prototypes have been proposed in the last decade, but there are still no solutions with the desired features regarding the weight, wearability and functionality. This paper describes the overall implementation of a prototype of an assistive robotic hand orthosis (ARHO) for object grasping, that can be triggered manually or by the detection of muscular activity in the forearm using surface electromyography (sEMG). The system is being specifically designed for a case study of a person with hemiplegia resulting from a peri-insular hemispherectomy. The proposed orthosis is a very preliminary but functional prototype, still far from the desired features mentioned above, but serves to show all the modules composing a low-cost implementation, and above all, to understand all the constraints and difficulties in designing such a system.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Evolution during Three Ripening Stages of Évora Cheese

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Fabrication of a MEMS micromirror based on bulk silicon micromachining combined with grayscale lithography

A 1D MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) mirror for LiDAR applications, based on vertically asymmetric comb-drive electrostatic actuators, is presented in this work employing a novel fabrication process. This novel micromachining process combines typical SOI-based bulk micromachining and grayscale lithography, enabling the fabrication of combs actuators with asymmetric heights using a single lithography step in the active layer. With this technique, the fabrication process is simplified, and the overall costs are reduced since the number of required lithography steps decrease. The fabricated mirrors present self-aligned electrodes with a 2.8 mu m gap and asymmetric heights of the movable and the fixed electrodes of 20 mu m and 50 mu m, respectively. These asymmetric actuators are an essential feature for the operation mode of this device, enabling both in resonant and static mode operation. A mirror field of view (FOV) of 54 degrees at 838 Hz was achieved under low-pressure, when resonantly operated, and a FOV of 0.8 degrees in the static mode.This work was supported by the European Structural and Investment Funds in the FEDER Component through the Operational Competitiveness and Internationalization Programme (COMPETE 2020) under Project 037902 (POCI-01-0247-FEDER-037902). The work of Carlos Ferreira was supported by the Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (FCT) under Grant PD/BDE/135102/2017. Subject Editor M. Rais-Zadeh

URBSOIL-LISBON-Geoquímica dos solos urbanos de Lisboa: caracterização e cartografia, suporte para futuros estudos de saúde humana: resultados preliminares

A Geologia, e em especial a Geoquímica em ambiente urbano, têm-se revelado ferramentas essenciais não só no estudo dos materiais naturais neste ambiente, como na ligação entre a Geologia e a acção antrópica. Este estudo, com uma metodologia que usa vários meios de amostragem, pretende avaliar quais os elementos químicos que podem intervir num contexto de interacção em que as crianças são tomadas como alvo principal. Os primeiros resultados sobre concentrações de elementos químicos para os solos urbanos de Lisboa apontam para uma exposição esparsa na cidade de alguns dos elementos químicos inorgânicos, mas havendo por vezes um zonamento por tipologia de local ou de elemento químico. Foram definidos quatro grupos de pontos de amostragem consoante o tipo de uso, e escolhidos para uma análise mais próxima alguns elementos considerados tendencialmente de input antrópico e que se relacionam com a saúde humana.

Exosomes from patients with septic shock convey miRNAs related to inflammation and cell cycle regulation: new signaling pathways in sepsis?

Background: Exosomes isolated from plasma of patients with sepsis may induce vascular apoptosis and myocardial dysfunction by mechanisms related to inflammation and oxidative stress. Despite previous studies demonstrating that these vesicles contain genetic material related to cellular communication, their molecular cargo during sepsis is relatively unknown. In this study, we evaluated the presence of microRNAs (miRNAs) and messenger RNAs (mRNAs) related to inflammatory response and redox metabolism in exosomes of patients with septic shock. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 24 patients with septic shock at ICU admission and after 7 days of treatment. Twelve healthy volunteers were used as control subjects. Exosomes were isolated by ultracentrifugation, and their miRNA and mRNA content was evaluated by qRT-PCR array. Results: As compared with healthy volunteers, exosomes from patients with sepsis had significant changes in 65 exosomal miRNAs. Twenty-eight miRNAs were differentially expressed, both at enrollment and after 7 days, with similar kinetics (18 miRNAs upregulated and 10 downregulated). At enrollment, 35 differentially expressed miRNAs clustered patients with sepsis according to survival. The pathways enriched by the miRNAs of patients with sepsis compared with control subjects were related mostly to inflammatory response. The comparison of miRNAs from patients with sepsis according to hospital survival demonstrated pathways related mostly to cell cycle regulation. At enrollment, sepsis was associated with significant increases in the expression of mRNAs related to redox metabolism (myeloperoxidase, 64-foldPRDX3, 2.6-foldSOD2, 2.2-fold) and redox-responsive genes (FOXM1, 21-foldSELS, 16-foldGLRX2, 3.4-fold). The expression of myeloperoxidase mRNA remained elevated after 7 days (65-fold). Conclusions: Exosomes from patients with septic shock convey miRNAs and mRNAs related to pathogenic pathways, including inflammatory response, oxidative stress, and cell cycle regulation. Exosomes may represent a novel mechanism for intercellular communication during sepsis.Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo (FAPESP)Research and Education Institute, Hospital Sirio-LibanesHosp Sirio Libanes, Res & Educ Inst, Rua Prof Daher Cutait 69, BR-01539001 Sao Paulo, SP, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo State Canc Inst, Sao Paulo, BrazilHosp Serv Publ Estadual Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Minas Gerais, Inst Ciencias Biol, Morphol Dept, Belo Horizonte, MG, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Heart Inst, Lab Immunol, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Estadual Paraiba, Ctr Ciencias & Tecnol, Campina Grande, BrazilLudwig Inst Canc Res, Sao Paulo, BrazilAC Camargo Canc Ctr, Int Res Ctr, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Sch Med, Div Clin Immunol & Allergy, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Sao Paulo, Emergency Med, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 10/52554-1Web of Scienc