Gait Analysis Device for Elderly Fall Prediction

This document serves to outline the design process and final design for our project to address elderly independent living in collaboration with Apple. Included in this document is necessary academic literature of current fall risk assessments and descriptions of the current market of wearable gait analysis devices. Based on this research and data, we then outline a plan for design, manufacturing, prototyping, and testing a device to fulfill the original prompt given by our sponsors: create a device that will increase the ability of an aging loved one to live at home safely. This device is a wearable that collects gait data of elderly people and uses that data to predict their risk of falling. Key customer requirements include increasing elder independence, predicting fall risk, and detecting changes in gait and balance. This led to a number of engineering specifications, the most important of which being time of supervision of the elderly person, displacement of device with movement, and the reliability of the sensors to accurately measure metrics associated with gait. In order to achieve these targets, we developed a workflow to span the next two quarters. We created morphology sketches based on four different functions we decided were necessary for our device to function and created three different concepts based off those functions. All three concepts were analyzed against engineering metrics, and a single concept was chosen: a shoe with built in ultrasonic sensors and an IMU for foot height and gait analysis. Concept sketches were designed to model how this concept would function using SolidWorks, and failure mode and effects analysis was performed to find potential failures before we finalized the device design in order to prevent them from being designed into the product. We also conducted failure mode and effects analysis in order to detect possible problems that could be designed into the device unintentionally and took steps to eliminate the possible risks. We then created a detailed design that lists exactly what our prototype contains along with how it functions and looks. A prototype was built based on the revised manufacturing plan, circuit diagrams, and design parameters. This prototype was evaluated based on the detailed test plans that include sample sizes, test protocols and expected results. The purpose of these tests was to verify that our device functions in the way that is expected and to validate that the data we are collecting is accurate. Correlation coefficients were determined to be higher than 0.4 for acceleration data of the device IMU when compared to the iPhone IMU, meaning they are strongly correlated with each other and suggesting any algorithms used with the iPhone may also be used for our device. Correlation coefficients were even higher for angular velocity collection, being 0.7 and higher, leading to a very strong correlation between the two IMUs and furthers the algorithm suggestion. Additional tests were to ensure the safety of the user at all times. Data collection was analyzed and then statistical analysis was performed to determine whether the prototype fulfilled the goals presented by our sponsor. Analysis tests determined that IMU acceleration and angular velocity were capable of detecting changes in gait, but ultrasonic sensors were not able to do so. We conclude with a discussion of learnings from the prototyping process and suggested future steps with a focus on development of a more substantial data analysis algorithm

Contact killing of Escherichia coli K12 and Staphylococcus cohnii on copper containing and alloyed materials

Maintaining human health during long-term space missions is of major concern at any time. It is well known that space missions influence the immune system of the explorers and that they become more susceptible to bacterial infections. At the same time, bacteria exposed to the space environment have been shown to get more aggressive and more resistant to antibiotics. This particular combination can lead to severe infections and may jeopardise the mission; therefore a strong and uncompromising strategy inhibiting the propagation of bacteria is urgently needed. To achieve this, antimicrobial surfaces may just offer the answer. They provide a promising alternative to conventional cleaning procedures with e.g. disinfectants and contain organic/inorganic substituents or antimicrobial metals such as copper or silver. Copper is an essential metal but toxic at higher concentrations. On the contrary, silver is not essential and therefore toxic even at low concentrations. Due to their antimicrobial properties, both metals were used for medical issues and the storage of drinking water since thousands of years. While the toxicity is well known, the exact mechanisms of the toxicity are still unclear. In this study the antimicrobial effect of pure copper and new, potentially antimicrobial eutectic alloys composed of aluminium, silver and/or copper was investigated under wet contact killing conditions. First, the survival of Gram-positive and Gram-negative cells after contact with antimicrobial materials was examined. Additionally, intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) production and damages of the membrane, DNA and RNA were determined for copper exposed samples. ROS production and membrane damages increased rapidly within one hour while the effect on cell survival was negligible even after two hours of exposure. Only longer exposure of up to four hours led to a rapid decrease in cell survival depending on the concentration of exposed cells/cm². Further investigations were conducted with selected strains of the Keio collection. This collection is composed of E. coli strains which exhibit knockouts in one gene whereby each deleted gene was exchanged by a kanamycin cassette. To determine metabolic influences of pure copper and eutectic alloy exposed samples, 21 strains which had either a direct link to copper and/or silver transport mechanisms or a general function in the microorganism were selected. After pre-testing, different survivability’s of E. coli ΔcopA, ΔrecA, ΔcutA, ΔcueR and ΔcueO were obtained. The survival was decreased in absence of CueO compared to ΔcopA strains when exposed to pure copper surfaces. In contrast to this, the survivability was vice versa when exposed to silver containing alloys whereas CueO had no function in silver oxidization. Finally, the release of metal ions and the cell associated metal concentration was determined by taking the example of Staphylococcus cohnii, Escherichia coli K12 and ΔcopA to identify possible connections between cell associated ions and the survival of cells. These measurements indicated that the higher release of ions after exposure of cells in buffer is caused by an indirect dissolution. Despite a relatively high cell associated ion concentration, the experiments in the current study (with ex vivo and in vivo DNA/RNA and the above mentioned Keio strains) pointed out that these ions were possibly primarily present in the periplasm. Additionally, investigations on ternary, eutectic alloys were conducted. They showed that special casting protocols need to be in progress to obtain antimicrobial effects. Due to the antimicrobial effect and light weight, these materials could be a great opportunity to be applied in hospitals or in spacecraft facilities

Seasonal effects of drought on the productivity and fodder quality of temperate grassland species

During a two-year field experiment we tested the effects of seasonal drought events on the growth rates, physiological activity and fodder quality of several perennial C3 grasses that are commonly used for agricultural production. All tested grasses were subject to at least ten weeks of rainfall exclusion, either in spring, summer or fall of the years 2014 and 2015. The resistance of growth rates varied between seasons. While growth losses were lowest due to drought in spring, losses during summer and fall drought were much higher. Due to strong compensational effects after the release from drought annual net primary productivity was hardly affected by drought in either season. Against our expectations, growth rates of reproductive developmental stages were less affected by drought than those of vegetative stages. Moreover, measurements of leaf water potential and stomatal conductance, as well as carbon discrimination, showed that generative spring growth was least affected by drought. Plants during reproductive stages, thus, may invest more in drought resistance than during vegetative growth. Forage quality patterns, including nitrogen content, crude ash, digestible organic matter and net energy for lactation, were less straightforward in their response to seasonal drought. While quality parameters were reduced under drought in general, the release from drought enhanced forage quality, but seasonal differences could not be perceived

Veterans in Counseling Programs: Military Service and the Counselor Training Process

The authors conducted a transcendental phenomenological study to acquire a deeper understanding of graduate student veterans’ experiences in counselor training programs and explore how military background influences counselor development. Results are based on semi-structured interviews with eight graduate student veterans enrolled in counseling programs across the United States. Four themes resulted which impacted counselor training processes (a) military behaviors, values, and identity (b) military counseling cultural contrasts, (c) integrating military service into counselor training, and (d) veteran-friendly suggestions for counseling programs. This study presented a range of experiences graduate student veterans have in counselor training programs, concluding that this student population provides a unique and valuable cultural perspective that warrants independent consideration and representation in counselor training. We further discuss implications for counselor education and future research to better support this student population

Traduzindo o erotismo místico do conto “Eucaristia”, de Andréa del Fuego

Tradução de: Rosvitha Friesen Blume e Claudia Hahn.A tradução do conto “Eucaristia” deu-se no contexto de um trabalho conjunto entre mim como professora orientadora e três alunas da Universidade de Leipzig após um curso de tradução literária que ofereci naquela instituição em 2006

Evaluation of High-Resolution Simulation of the Urban Heat Island in Vienna, Austria

The recently developed microscale model for urban applications PALM-4U was used to simulate the thermal variability in Vienna on different spatial scales and to evaluate its ability to capture thermal characteristics in real urban environment. The model simulations cover the entire city of Vienna with a spatial resolution of 20 m. The static data related to geographical information and urban infrastructure are based on GIS data provided by the city administration of Vienna, available as spatial multi-purpose maps (Flächen-Mehrzweckkarte - FMZK), street tree cadastre, Digital Elevation Model and Digital Surface Model, which were combined with the national land cover data (Land Information System Austria - LISA) to account for the unresolved vegetation and Open Street Map to include building properties in the surrounding region (Lower Austria) of the model domain. The simulations were performed for a selected clear-sky hot day in August 2022. The results for hourly air temperature were evaluated with conventional weather stations of the national weather service and the city of Vienna and with quality-controlled data from citizen weather stations from the company NETATMO. The results show high intra-urban variability during daytime, but distinct spatial patterns at night with higher air temperatures in urban regions. In addition, spatial patterns of surface temperature were compared to remote sensing data from ECOsystem Spaceborne Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station (ECOSTRESS) and with the modelling results from previous studies, but with coarser grid spacing (e.g. urban climate model MUKLIMO_3 with 100 m spatial resolution). The results indicate that the microscale model PALM-4U shows general agreement with observations and is able to simulate atmospheric processes in urban regions. However, during the night a strong temperature inversion is present in the model, which can be related to the choice of model configuration and requires further investigations. The spatial patterns in urban-rural temperature gradient are similar as found in coarser scale model simulations and remote-sensing data, but show higher variation in surface temperature amplitude

Modelling the Efficiency of Nature-Based Solutions to Decrease Extreme Summer-time Heat in Dense Urban Environment on Example of Vienna, Austria

Densely built urban environments experience extremely high temperatures during summer heat waves. Nature-based Solutions (NbS), such as increasing green infrastructure by replacing sealed surfaces with vegetation, installing green roofs and especially planting trees can ameliorate severe heat conditions by providing cooling through evapotranspiration and shading. This study analyses the effectiveness of NbS to reduce the summer maximum temperatures in Vienna using an urban climate modelling approach that takes into account NbS performance criteria on micro-scale and upscales the application of NbS for the entire city. Using existing data of the Viennese urban structure, status-quo urban climate simulations were performed. Further, based on evidence on NbS performance criteria different climate scenarios for implementation of NbS were designed. A densely-built area in Vienna, for which the possibility of implementation of NbS was analysed, was chosen as a study area for micro-scale simulations. The adaptation measures included: 1) reduction of soil sealing, 2) increase in surface reflectivity of sealed surfaces, 3) implementation of green roofs, 4) new park areas with trees and low vegetation and 5) a combination of all NbS. The modelling simulations were performed for a representative clear-sky heat day for NbS scenario first for the selected area with the ENVI-met model and later for the entire city of Vienna with the MUKLIMO_3 model. The extent of NbS was proportionally scaled for the city-level simulations and the measures were applied for all densely-built areas in the city. The results show the highest cooling effect for the combination of NbS with a similar intensity of cooling found both in microscale and city-scale simulations. In case of city-scale simulations, the results show mean difference in daily maximum temperature of about 0.1°C and maximum difference of about 1.4°C. The effect is strongest in the densely-built areas where the measures were applied. However, the cooling effect can be detected in the surrounding areas as well. The robustness of the urban scale results was tested using different modelling setups, varying the parameters describing land-use properties, such as variations in land use mapping, soil sealing, building density and tree coverage. Different representation of land use characteristics in the model leads to variations in spatial pattern of heat load. The cooling effect also varies spatially, dependent on the possibility to implement the adaptation measure. However, the results confirm similar efficiency of NbS regardless of the background data and method applied

Beechwood carbohydrates for enzymatic synthesis of sustainable glycolipids

Moving away from crude oil to renewable resources for the production of a wide range of compounds is a challenge for future generations. To overcome this, the use of lignocellulose as substrate can contribute to drastically reduce the consumption of crude oil. In this study, sugars from lignocellulose were used as a starting material for the enzymatic synthesis of surface-active sugar esters. The substrates were obtained by an acid-catalyzed, beechwood pretreatment process, which resulted in a fiber fraction that is subsequently hydrolyzed to obtain the monosaccharides. After purification and drying, this glucose- and xylose-rich fraction was used to create a deep eutectic solvent, which acts both as solvent and substrate for the lipase-catalyzed reaction at the same time. Finally, the successful synthesis of glycolipids from a sustainable resource was confirmed by ESI–Q–ToF mass spectrometry and multidimensional NMR experiments. Moreover, conversion yields of 4.8% were determined by LC–MS/MS

Agro-morphology and uses of Cajanus cajan L. Millsp. (FABACEAE)

El Guandul (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) es una leguminosa arbustiva, rica en nutrientes, originaria de la India; en Colombia se cultiva en la Costa Atlántica para ser usada en la alimentación humana. El guandul está adaptado especialmente a medios semiáridos por ser resistente a la sequía y se adapta bien a suelos pobres gracias a su complejo sistema radicular. Es una planta que tiene gran potencial para la alimentación animal, por su alto contenido de proteína y puede producir hasta cincuenta toneladas de forraje verde por hectárea. Además de su uso en la alimentación, tiene acciones farmacológicas, ayuda a la recuperación de suelos y a la producción de abonos verdes. El objetivo de esta investigación documental es recopilar y analizar la información existente sobre esta leguminosa en sus aspectos morfoagronómicos, bromatológicos y como materia prima en las dietas para animales.Guandul (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp.) is an Indian native leguminous shrub rich in nutrients. It grows in the Colombian Atlantic Coast and is used as food for human beings. Guandul grows in semiarid environments due to its resistance to dryness and to its adaptability to poor soil thanks to its complex root system. It is a plant with a huge potential for animal feed because of its high protein content which can produce up to fifty tons of green fodder per hectare. Besides its use in feeding, it also has pharmacological actions by helping soil recovery and green fertilizer production. The aim of this documental research is to compile and analyze the existing information about this leguminous plant considering its morphoagronomic and bromatological benefits and its potential as raw material in animals' diet