The Status and Future of Direct Nuclear Reaction Measurements for Stellar Burning

The study of stellar burning began just over 100 years ago. Nonetheless, we do not yet have a detailed picture of the nucleosynthesis within stars and how nucleosynthesis impacts stellar structure and the remnants of stellar evolution. Achieving this understanding will require precise direct measurements of the nuclear reactions involved. This report summarizes the status of direct measurements for stellar burning, focusing on developments of the last couple of decades, and offering a prospectus of near-future developments.Comment: Accepted to Journal of Physics G as a Major Report. Corresponding author: Zach Meisel ([email protected]

Design of Medical Devices for Robotic Rehabilitation

L'interesse mondiale per la riabilitazione robotica è cresciuto negli ultimi anni, sia dal punto di vista tecnologico che normativo. Inoltre, l'adozione della terapia robotica è aumentata in modo esponenziale, poiché rappresenta un aiuto per i terapisti e consente l'introduzione di nuovi esercizi e terapie. I dispositivi medici per la riabilitazione robotica possono differire per diversi aspetti, come ad esempio per le caratteristiche cinematiche, le strategie di allenamento consentite, le soluzioni tecniche per l'implementazione del concept, l'utente finale previsto o le condizioni ambientali di lavoro. Inoltre, i regolamenti e il quadro normativo influenzano fortemente i requisiti e i potenziali vincoli di progettazione dei dispositivi, soprattutto in ambienti critici come quello medicale, caratterizzato da una complessa interazione tra progettazione, procedure terapeutiche ed esigenze dell'utente. Pertanto, l'obiettivo di questo lavoro di tesi è analizzare i vari aspetti coinvolti nella progettazione di dispositivi medici per la riabilitazione robotica al fine di realizzare applicazioni pratiche e sviluppare modelli di progettazione dedicati ai dispositivi medici. Sebbene la progettazione sia solo una delle fasi dello sviluppo di un prodotto, l'argomento è stato affrontato con una prospettiva più ampia, indagando le altre fasi del ciclo di vita dei dispositivi medici. In aggiunta, sono stati analizzati lo stato dell'arte dei dispositivi robotici per la riabilitazione e il quadro normativo in forte evoluzione. Il caso di studio principale riguarda il LEPRE (Polibrixia s.r.l., Italia), un dispositivo robotico per la riabilitazione degli arti inferiori e superiori. Infatti, la presente tesi descrive rispettivamente: i) la procedura di valutazione clinica del LERPE secondo la direttiva 93/42/CEE; ii) l'indagine clinica del LEPRE secondo il nuovo regolamento europeo 2017/745 e la norma ISO 14155:2020; iii) e l'indagine clinica, sempre secondo le normative citate, relativa a un cicloergometro per il movimento degli arti inferiori sviluppato da un'azienda diversa da Polibrixia. Inoltre, questa tesi presenta lo Usability-Oriented Model for the Design of Medical Devices e la sua applicazione nella progettazione del LEPRE. Per valutare l'usabilità del dispositivo sono stati utilizzati due metodi, ovvero interviste a esperti, per delineare valutazioni qualitative, e questionari di System Usability Scale (SUS) rivolti a otto fisioterapisti, due fisiatri e dodici pazienti, che hanno permesso una valutazione quantitativa. L'estensione della nozione di usabilità, intesa come approccio metodologico integrato da applicare fin dalle prime fasi del progetto, consente di risparmiare i tempi e, di conseguenza, i costi del progetto, portando a uno sviluppo più lineare del prodotto.Worldwide interest on the robotic rehabilitation has grown in recent years, both from a technological and regulatory perspective. Moreover, the adoption of robotic therapy has increased exponentially, since it represents an aid to therapists and allows the introduction of new exercises and therapies. Medical devices for robotic rehabilitation can differ in several aspects, such as kinematic characteristics, allowed training strategies, technical solutions for the concept implementation, expected final user or environmental working conditions. In addition, regulations and normative framework strongly affect requirements and potential design constraints of devices, especially in critical environments like the medical field, characterized by a complex interaction among design, therapy procedures and user needs. Therefore, the objective of this thesis work is to analyze the various aspects involved in the design of medical devices for robotic rehabilitation to perform practical applications and to develop design models dedicated to medical devices. Although design is only one of the phases of product development, the topic was approached with a broader perspective by investigating the other stages of medical devices’ life cycle. Furthermore, the state of the art of robotic rehabilitation devices and the strongly evolving normative framework were analyzed. The main case study concerns the LEPRE (Polibrixia s.r.l., Italy), a robotic rehabilitation device for lower and upper limbs. As a matter of fact, the present thesis describes respectively: i) the LERPE clinical evaluation procedure according to directive 93/42/EEC; ii) the LEPRE clinical investigation in accordance with the new European regulation 2017/745 and the ISO 14155:2020 standard; iii) and the clinical investigation, again in accordance with the mentioned regulations, concerning a cycle ergometer for lower limb movement developed by a company different from Polibrixia. Furthermore, this thesis presents the Usability-Oriented Model for the Design of Medical Devices and its application to the design of the LEPRE. To assess the usability of the device two methods were used, i.e., interviews to expert, to outline qualitative evaluations, and System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaires on eight physiotherapists, two physiatrists, and twelve patients, that allowed a quantitative assessment. The extension of the notion of usability, intended as an integrated methodological approach to be applied since the early stages of the project, enables to save project time and, consequently, costs, leading to a more linear product development

The Multi-Parametric Weight Optimization of a Hydraulic Actuator

This research was derived from the experimental observation that hydraulic actuators are positioned on machines that are subjected to movements and whose dynamic actions, the accelerations, are very high; it is acceptable to think of an actuator for an anthropomorphic robot. From this point of view, the weight of the actuator plays a fundamental role in the performance of the machine. In order to face this problem, a real hydraulic cylinder has been designed (for use on an earth moving machine) both analytically (adopting the theories of continuous mechanics) and numerically through finite element analysis. The results obtained were then generalized by determining functions that in relation to specific values of the variables, such as working pressure, allow one to determine the minimum weight of the component and its geometric configuration. The functions also made it possible to identify the most significant contributions to the overall weight of the component and therefore the elements on which to focus the subsequent lightening process. In particular, the greatest contribution is made by obtaining relations that are completely general and therefore adaptable to different case studies

Design of Medical Devices with Usability in Mind: A Theoretical Proposal and Experimental Case Study Using the LEPRE Device

Usability is a critical product feature and is required for widespread market adoption. Standards on usability are highly focused on evaluation procedures and specific aspects, such as software issues or human–machine interaction, whereas the relative scientific literature is very normative oriented. The few methodological works dealing with usability either consider it as one of the many attributes that a particular project must satisfy or present very general methods. No design methods systematically oriented toward the integration of usability and usability-related constraints have been developed to date. This paper presents a usability-oriented model for the design of medical devices and its application to the design of LEPRE, a medical device for upper- and lower-limb robotic rehabilitation. Two methods were used to assess the device’s usability: interviews with experts to outline qualitative evaluations and System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaires on eight physiotherapists, two physiatrists, and 12 patients, enabling a quantitative assessment. Results support the intention of providing an integrated methodological approach to be applied from the early stages of the project, thus saving time and costs, leading to a more linear product development for this application

Design of Medical Devices with Usability in Mind: A Theoretical Proposal and Experimental Case Study Using the LEPRE Device

Usability is a critical product feature and is required for widespread market adoption. Standards on usability are highly focused on evaluation procedures and specific aspects, such as software issues or human–machine interaction, whereas the relative scientific literature is very normative oriented. The few methodological works dealing with usability either consider it as one of the many attributes that a particular project must satisfy or present very general methods. No design methods systematically oriented toward the integration of usability and usability-related constraints have been developed to date. This paper presents a usability-oriented model for the design of medical devices and its application to the design of LEPRE, a medical device for upper- and lower-limb robotic rehabilitation. Two methods were used to assess the device’s usability: interviews with experts to outline qualitative evaluations and System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaires on eight physiotherapists, two physiatrists, and 12 patients, enabling a quantitative assessment. Results support the intention of providing an integrated methodological approach to be applied from the early stages of the project, thus saving time and costs, leading to a more linear product development for this application