Active joints for microrobot limbs

The authors propose an electrostatic actuator for active joints. The active joint consists of two plates, one of which is a bilayer and bent by the bimorph effect. The plates are clamped to each other at one edge. A voltage between the plates leads to a very large field at the clamp where the plates are in intimate contact, thereby producing a force large enough to pull the bent bimorph cantilever beam to the other plate. The design uses an actuator in which large electrical forces acting over a short distance are used to produce large deflections. An appealing application of this actuation principle is seen in active joints for robot arms, e.g. by attaching members to the actuator and by combining two or more active joints and members to form micro robot arms, legs and grippers

Cloud-Based Data Analytics on Human Factor Measurement to Improve Safer Transport

Improving safer transport includes individual and collective behavioural aspects and their interaction. A system that can monitor and evaluate the human cognitive and physical capacities based on human factor measurement is often beneficial to improve safety in driving condition. However, analysis and evaluation of human factor measurement i.e. demographics, behaviour and physiology in real-time is challenging. This paper presents a methodology for cloud-based data analysis, categorization and metrics correlation in real-time through a H2020 project called SimuSafe. Initial implementation of this methodology shows a step-by-step approach which can handle huge amount of data with variation and verity in the cloud

Butyrate Properties in Immune-Related Diseases:Friend or Foe?

Butyrate is a short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) created within the intestinal lumen by bacterial fermentation of largely undigested dietary carbohydrates. Its beneficial effects on cellular energy metabolism and intestinal homeostasis have garnered significant attention among SCFAs. Butyrate also has systemic effects and is known to regulate the immune system. Most of the butyrate and other SCFAs are produced in the human colon, through the fermentation of dietary fiber or resistant starch. However, the modern diet often lacks sufficient intake of fermentable dietary fiber, which can lead to low butyrate levels in the colon. To increase butyrate levels, it is helpful to incorporate fiber sources into meals and drinks that rely on slow bacterial fermentation. Butyrate is well known for its anti-inflammatory properties and has a range of immune system-related properties. As an agonist for GPR41, GPR43, or GPR109A, butyrate may have anti-inflammatory effects through these receptors’ signaling pathways. Butyrate also serves as an epigenetic regulator, responding to environmental or pharmacological changes by inhibiting HDAC, up-regulating miR-7a-5p, and promoting histone butyrylation and autophagy processes. This review discusses the importance of butyrate in regulating immunological homeostasis and the inflammatory response. It also addresses experimental models and human studies investigating the therapeutic potential of butyrate supplementation in immune-related conditions linked to butyrate depletion. Specifically, it covers the role of butyrate in some immune-related diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, human immunodeficiency virus, cancer, and several other special conditions.</p

Assessment of the breath alcohol concentration in emergency care patients with different level of consciousness

BACKGROUND: Many patients seeking emergency care are under the influence of alcohol, which in many cases implies a differential diagnostic problem. For this reason early objective alcohol screening is of importance not to falsely assign the medical condition to intake of alcohol and thus secure a correct medical assessment. OBJECTIVE: At two emergency departments, demonstrate the feasibility of accurate breath alcohol testing in emergency patients with different levels of cooperation. METHOD: Assessment of the correlation and ratio between the venous blood alcohol concentration (BAC) and the breath alcohol concentration (BrAC) measured in adult emergency care patients. The BrAC was measured with a breathalyzer prototype based on infrared spectroscopy, which uses the partial pressure of carbon dioxide (pCO₂) in the exhaled air as a quality indicator. RESULT: Eighty-eight patients enrolled (mean 45 years, 53 men, 35 women) performed 201 breath tests in total. For 51% of the patients intoxication from alcohol or tablets was considered to be the main reason for seeking medical care. Twenty-seven percent of the patients were found to have a BAC of <0.04 mg/g. With use of a common conversion factor of 2100:1 between BAC and BrAC an increased agreement with BAC was found when the level of pCO₂ was used to estimate the end-expiratory BrAC (underestimation of 6%, r = 0.94), as compared to the BrAC measured in the expired breath (underestimation of 26%, r = 0.94). Performance of a forced or a non-forced expiration was not found to have a significant effect (p = 0.09) on the bias between the BAC and the BrAC estimated with use of the level of CO₂. A variation corresponding to a BAC of 0.3 mg/g was found between two sequential breath tests, which is not considered to be of clinical significance. CONCLUSION: With use of the expired pCO₂ as a quality marker the BrAC can be reliably assessed in emergency care patients regardless of their cooperation, and type and length of the expiration.Annika Kaisdotter Andersson, Josefine Kron, Maaret Castren, Asa Muntlin Athlin, Bertil Hok, and Lars Wiklun

Electrophysiological correlates of high-level perception during spatial navigation

We studied the electrophysiological basis of object recognition by recording scalp\ud electroencephalograms while participants played a virtual-reality taxi driver game.\ud Participants searched for passengers and stores during virtual navigation in simulated\ud towns. We compared oscillatory brain activity in response to store views that were targets or\ud nontargets (during store search) or neutral (during passenger search). Even though store\ud category was solely defined by task context (rather than by sensory cues), frontal ...\ud \u

Crop-livestock integration provides opportunities to mitigate environmental trade-offs in transitioning smallholder agricultural systems of the Greater Mekong Subregion

CONTEXT: The Greater Mekong Subregion has been undergoing rapid agricultural transformation over the last decades, as traditional diverse subsistence-oriented agriculture is evolving towards intensified commercial production systems. Negative environmental impacts often include deforestation, nutrient pollution, and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to explore the potential of crop-livestock integration to mitigate trade-offs between economic and environmental impacts of smallholder farming systems at different stages of agricultural transition and degrees of agricultural diversity across the Greater Mekong Subregion. METHODS: We chose a ‘middle ground’ between detailed modeling of few, representative farming systems and modeling of large household populations. 24 low and high diversity farms were selected in Laos (Xieng Khouang province), Cambodia (Ratanakiri province) and Vietnam (Central Highlands) from a survey dataset of 1300 households. These farming systems were simulated with the whole-farm bio-economic and multi-objective optimization model FarmDESIGN, calculating operating profit, GHG emissions and nitrogen (N) balance. Two optimizations (‘business as usual’ vs. ‘crop-livestock integration’) were performed, generating ‘solution spaces’ or alternative configurations aiming to maximize profitability, keep farm N balanced and minimize GHG emissions. RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Agricultural systems across the sites differed in their production orientation and management practices, representing various stages of agricultural transition. Nitrogen balances varied between sites, being negative in Ratanakiri (average 20.5 kg N ha 1 y 1) and Xieng Khouang ( 36.5 kg N ha 1 y 1) and positive in the Central Highlands (73 kg N ha 1 y 1). Negative balances point to unsustainable mining of nutrients due to sale of cash crops without sufficient inputs, and positive balances to the risk of environmental contamination. Total GHG emissions ranged from 0.52–8.12 t CO2e ha 1 and were not significantly impacted by stage of agricultural transformation or agricultural diversity. GHG sources in Ratanakiri and Xieng Khouang were determined by crop residue burning while in Central Highlands fertilizer and livestock were main emitters. High diversity farms obtained higher operating profits (10,379 USD y 1) than low diversity farms (4584 USD y 1). Crop-livestock integration, a combination of measures including introduction of improved forages grasses, manure recycling and residue feeding, and reduction of residue burning, resulted in larger ‘solution spaces’, thus providing farmers with more options to mitigate agro-environmental trade-offs. SIGNIFICANCE: These findings underline the potential of crop-livestock integration to support sustainable intensification pathways in the Greater Mekong region. Public and private investment in further research and extension is needed to develop and scale context-specific crop-livestock integration practices

Physical controls on directed virus assembly at nanoscale chemical templates

Viruses are attractive building blocks for nanoscale heterostructures, but little is understood about the physical principles governing their directed assembly. In-situ force microscopy was used to investigate organization of Cowpea Mosaic Virus engineered to bind specifically and reversibly at nanoscale chemical templates with sub-30nm features. Morphological evolution and assembly kinetics were measured as virus flux and inter-viral potential were varied. The resulting morphologies were similar to those of atomic-scale epitaxial systems, but the underlying thermodynamics was analogous to that of colloidal systems in confined geometries. The 1D templates biased the location of initial cluster formation, introduced asymmetric sticking probabilities, and drove 1D and 2D condensation at subcritical volume fractions. The growth kinetics followed a t{sup 1/2} law controlled by the slow diffusion of viruses. The lateral expansion of virus clusters that initially form on the 1D templates following introduction of polyethylene glycol (PEG) into the solution suggests a significant role for weak interaction

Managing deliberate self-harm in young people: An evaluation of a training program developed for school welfare staff using a longitudinal research design

BACKGROUND: Although deliberate self-harm is prevalent among young people, many who engage in deliberate self-harm receive sub-optimal care. Although schools are a well placed setting to support young people who engage in self-harm there are no specific training packages designed to assist school welfare staff to support these young people.The current study aimed to design, deliver and evaluate a training course specifically for school staff. METHODS: The study employed a longitudinal design. Two hundred and thirteen people participated in the training and evaluation. A questionnaire was administered at baseline, immediately after the training and at 6-month follow-up in order to determine if the training led to improvements in confidence when working with young people who self-harm, perceived skill, knowledge of, and attitudes towards people who self harm. RESULTS: Prior to the course, the majority of participants demonstrated relatively high levels of confidence, perceived skill and knowledge of self-harm and endorsed relatively positive attitudes towards people who engage in self-harm. Despite this, significant improvements were observed in terms of increased confidence, increased perceptions of skill along with increased knowledge of deliberate self-harm. These improvements were sustained over the follow-up period. CONCLUSION: The results demonstrated that the provision of specifically designed training can help school welfare staff to feel better equipped to support young people who are engaging in deliberate self-harm

Identification of a humanized mouse model for functional testing of immune-mediated biomaterial foreign body response.

Biomedical devices comprise a major component of modern medicine, however immune-mediated fibrosis and rejection can limit their function over time. Here, we describe a humanized mouse model that recapitulates fibrosis following biomaterial implantation. Cellular and cytokine responses to multiple biomaterials were evaluated across different implant sites. Human innate immune macrophages were verified as essential to biomaterial rejection in this model and were capable of cross-talk with mouse fibroblasts for collagen matrix deposition. Cytokine and cytokine receptor array analysis confirmed core signaling in the fibrotic cascade. Foreign body giant cell formation, often unobserved in mice, was also prominent. Last, high-resolution microscopy coupled with multiplexed antibody capture digital profiling analysis supplied spatial resolution of rejection responses. This model enables the study of human immune cell-mediated fibrosis and interactions with implanted biomaterials and devices