Mechatronic Coupling System for Cooperative Manufacturing with Industrial Robots

Rising product variants and shortened product life cycles require more flexible and universally utilizable production systems and machines. Consequently, it can be expected that the importance of industrial robots in production will continuously increase, due to their suitability to take over the role of a universal production machine. However, robots are not yet able to fulfill this role. Industrial use of robots has so far been limited mainly to simple transport and handling tasks in the context of human-robot collaboration as well as highly repetitive automated tasks in the context of manufacturing and assembly. For universal use, robots must be capable to perform more demanding tasks in manufacturing with higher requirements on mechanical stiffness and accuracy. Therefore, this paper presents a mechatronic system to couple two robots to a parallel kinematic system to temporarily increase the mechanical stiffness. The coupled state of the robots allows load sharing, higher process forces and eventually higher precision. The overall goal is to enable robots to perform more demanding manufacturing tasks and thus to be utilized in a wider range of applications. Design requirements, the development approach and optimization methods of the first coupling module prototype will be presented and discussed. The next development steps, a future demonstration system and possible use cases for the coupling module will be shown in the outlook

Recipient-Reported Reactogenicity of Different SARS-CoV-2 Vaccination Regimens among Healthcare Professionals and Police Staff in Germany

The rapid availability of effective vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 was key during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, vaccine hesitancy and relatively low vaccine coverage rates among the general population and particularly vulnerable populations such as healthcare staff reduced the potential benefits of these vaccines. During the early phase of the pandemic, fear of vaccine-related adverse events was common among individuals who refused vaccination. Between March and May 2021, we comparatively assessed the self-reported reactogenicity of different SARS-CoV-2 prime-boost regimens using mRNA-based (BNT162b2 and mRNA-1273) and vector-based vaccines (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19) in (a) healthcare workers (HCW), and (b) police staff from southwest Germany. The majority of participants (71.8%; 1564/2176) received a homologous vaccination. Among HCW, 75.0% were female, whereas 70.0% of police staff were male. The most frequently reported reactions following the first vaccine administration were pain at the injection site (77.94%; 1696/2176), tiredness (51.75%; 1126/2176), and headache (40.44%; 880/2176), which were more commonly reported by HCW as compared to police staff. In homologous, mRNA-based and heterologous vaccination schedules, more reactions were reported after the second vaccine dose. We conclude that the frequency and intensity of self-perceived vaccine reactogenicity may differ between specific population groups and might be mitigated by tailored communication strategies

CNVVdb: a database of copy number variations across vertebrate genomes

Summary: CNVVdb is a web interface for identification of putative copy number variations (CNVs) among 16 vertebrate species using the-same-species self-alignments and cross-species pairwise alignments. By querying genomic coordinates in the target species, all the potential paralogous/orthologous regions that overlap ≥80–100% (adjustable) of the query sequences with user-specified sequence identity (≥60%∼≥90%) are returned. Additional information is also given for the genes that are included in the returned regions, including gene description, alternatively spliced transcripts, gene ontology descriptions and other biologically important information. CNVVdb also provides information of pseudogenes and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for the CNV-related genomic regions. Moreover, multiple sequence alignments of shared CNVs across species are also provided. With the combination of CNV, SNP, pseudogene and functional information, CNVVdb can be very useful for comparative and functional studies in vertebrates

Orbiter escape pole

A Shuttle type of aircraft (10) with an escape hatch (12) has an arcuately shaped pole housing (16) attachable to an interior wall and ceiling with its open end adjacent to the escape hatch. The pole housing 16 contains a telescopically arranged and arcuately shaped primary pole member (22) and extension pole member (23) which are guided by roller assemblies (30,35). The extension pole member (23) is slidable and extendable relative to the primary pole member (22). For actuation, a spring actuated system includes a spring (52) in the pole housing. A locking member (90) engages both pole members (22,23) through notch portions (85,86) in the pole members. The locking member selectively releases the extension pole member (23) and the primary pole member (22). An internal one-way clutch or anti-return mechanism prevents retraction of the extension pole member from an extended position. Shock absorbers (54)(150,152) are for absoring the energy of the springs. A manual backup deployment system is provided which includes a canted ring (104) biased by a spring member (108). A lever member (100) with a slot and pin connection (102) permits the mechanical manipulation of the canted ring to move the primary pole member. The ring (104) also prevents retraction of the main pole. The crew escape mechanism includes a magazine (60) and a number of lanyards (62), each lanyard being mounted by a roller loop (68) over the primary pole member (22). The strap on the roller loop has stitching for controlled release, a protection sheath (74) to prevent tangling and a hook member (69) for attachment to a crew harness

Culturally sensitive stepped care for adolescent refugees: efficacy and cost–utility of a multicentric randomized controlled trial

Adolescent refugees and asylum seekers (ARAS) are highly vulnerable to mental health problems. Stepped care models (SCM) and culturally sensitive therapies offer promising treatment approaches to effectively provide necessary medical and psychological support. To our knowledge, we were the first to investigate whether a culturally sensitive SCM will reduce symptoms of depression and PTSD in ARAS more effectively and efficiently than treatment as usual (TAU). We conducted a multicentric, randomized, controlled and rater-blinded trial across Germany with ARAS between the ages of 14 to 21 years. Participants (N = 158) were stratified by their level of depressive symptom severity and then equally randomized to either SCM or TAU. Depending on their severity level, SCM participants were allocated to tailored interventions. Symptom changes were assessed for depression (PHQ) and PTSD (CATS) at four time points, with the primary end point at post-intervention after 12 weeks. Based on an intention-to-treat sample, we used a linear mixed model approach for the main statistical analyses. Further evaluations included cost–utility analyses, sensitivity analyses, follow-up-analyses, response and remission rates and subgroup analysis. We found a significant reduction of PHQ (d = 0.52) and CATS (d = 0.27) scores in both groups. However, there was no significant difference between SCM and TAU. Cost–utility analyses indicated that SCM generated greater cost–utility when measured as quality-adjusted life years compared to TAU. Subgroup analysis revealed different effects for the SCM interventions depending on the outcome measure. Although culturally sensitive, SCMs did not prove to be more effective in symptom change and represent a more cost-effective treatment alternative for mentally burdened ARAS. Our research contributes to the optimization of clinical productivity and the improvement of therapeutic care for ARAS. Disorder-specific interventions should be further investigated

Mast cell-derived mediators promote murine neutrophil effector functions

Mast cells are able to trigger life-saving immune responses in murine models for acute inflammation. In such settings, several lines of evidence indicate that the rapid and protective recruitment of neutrophils initiated by the release of mast cell-derived pro-inflammatory mediators is a key element of innate immunity. Herein, we investigate the impact of mast cells on critical parameters of neutrophil effector function. In the presence of activated murine bone marrow-derived mast cells, neutrophils freshly isolated from bone marrow rapidly lose expression of CD62L and up-regulate CD11b, the latter being partly driven by mast cell-derived TNF and GM-CSF. Mast cells also strongly enhance neutrophil phagocytosis and generation of reactive oxygen species. All these phenomena partly depend on mast cell-derived TNF and to a greater extend on GM-CSF. Furthermore, spontaneous apoptosis of neutrophils is greatly diminished due to the ability of mast cells to deliver antiapoptotic GM-CSF. Finally, we show in a murine model for acute lung inflammation that neutrophil phagocytosis is impaired in mast cell-deficient Kit W-sh /Kit W-sh mice but can be restored upon mast cell engraftment. Thus, a previously underrated feature of mast cells is their ability to boost neutrophil effector functions in immune response

ANALISIS PENGARUH LIKUIDITAS, LEVERAGE, DAN PROFITABILITAS TERHADAP LABA

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui seberapa besar pengaruh likuiditas, leverage dan profitabilitas terhadap laba yang dimiliki oleh PT.Gajah Tunggal Tbk. selama periode 1997-2008.Pengujian hipotesis ini menggunakan analisis regresi linier berganda, Uji F, dan Uji t.Hasil dari penelitian ini adalah bahwa likuiditas, leverage dan profitabilitas secara bersama-sama memiliki pengaruh terhadap laba sedangkan bila dilihat dari uji t yang memiliki pengaruh dominant terhadap laba yang diperoleh PT.Gajah Tunggal Tbk. selama periode 1997-2008 adalah profitabilitas dengan menggunakan rasio NPM (Net Profit Margin)