Efficient Transport Protocol for Networked Haptics Applications

The performance of haptic application is highly sensitive to communication delays and losses of data. It implies several constraints in developing networked haptic applications. This paper describes a new internet protocol called Efficient Transport Protocol (ETP), which aims at developing distributed interactive applications. TCP and UDP are transport protocols commonly used in any kind of networked communication, but they are not focused on real time application. This new protocol is focused on reducing roundtrip time (RTT) and inter packet gap (IPG). ETP is, therefore, optimized for interactive applications which are based on processes that are continuously exchanging data.ETP protocol is based on a state machine that decides the best strategies for optimizing RTT and IPG. Experiments have been carried out in order to compare this new protocol and UDP

Review of European ventilation strategies to meet the cooling and heating demands of nearly zero energy buildings (nZEB)/Passivhaus. Comparison with the USA

The parameters and conditions that govern the ventilation requirements in residential buildings under current regulations worldwide are not harmonized. The reduction in energy demand and the increase in the thermal comfort in dwellings are mainly conditioned by these parameters. This article reviews and compares the ventilation flow rates in residential buildings in various countries: the United States of America, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, and Spain. It also compares the requirements of these countries with the requirements of the Passivhaus construction standard, which is recommended by the European Union as an example of nearly zero-energy buildings (nZEB). Furthermore, a model for a dwelling is created using TRNSYS software. First, simulations have been performed with the flow rates, ventilation strategies and envelope transmittance required by the regulations of each country. The cooling and heating demands have been obtained for representative cities in different climate zones. With these results, the impact of ventilation parameters in the heating demand of the proposed Spanish dwelling is analyzed. Secondly, the same dwelling has been simulated with the thermal envelope transmittance values recommended by the Passivhaus standard. The ventilation strategies of each country have been maintained. The influence of the ventilation can be observed uninfluenced by other design parameters. It is found that with the current ventilation strategies, the heating and cooling demand values required by Passivhaus can be reached in only a few warm climates. In other cases, the ventilation strategies will need to change, and heat recovery ventilation will be required

Hepatoprotection of mentha aquatica L., lavandula dentata L. and leonurus cardiaca L.

The phenolic composition of hydroethanolic extracts of Mentha aquatica L., Lavandula dentata L. and Leonurus cardiaca L., obtained from plants grown under organic cultivation, was determined and their hepatoprotective effects were investigated in vitro . L. cardiaca extract was rich in phenylethenoid glycosides, especially lavandolifolioside (254 ± 36 μg/mg), whereas rosmarinic acid and eriodictyol-O-rutinoside were the major phenolic compounds of L. dentata and M. aquatica extracts, accounting for 68 ± 7 μg/mg and 145 ± 22 μg/mg, respectively. These differential phenolic components presumably account for their dissimilar antioxidant properties. While L. cardiaca extract showed moderate biological effects, M. aquatica extract displayed high antioxidant activity in chemical models, and that of L. dentata was effective in counteracting potassium dichromate-induced ROS generation in human hepatocarcinoma cells. Moreover, M. aquatica extract (50 μg/mL) and its mixture (50%/50%) with L. dentata extract displayed an effective cytoprotective effect.Aveiro and FCT/MCT financed the QOPNA research Unit (FCT UID/QUI/00062/2019) through national funds and, where applicable, co-financed by the FEDER, within the PT2020 Partnership Agreement, to the Portuguese NMR Network and to the Portuguese Mass Spectrometry Network (RNEM, LISBOA-01-0145-FEDER-402-022125). This study was supported in part by the CIBERehd (EHD15PI05/2016) and Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Spain (PI16/00598, co-funded by European Regional Development Fund/European Social Fund, “Investing in your future”); Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness (SAF2016-75197-R); Junta de Castilla y Leon (SA063P17); AECCScientific Foundation (2017/2020), Spain; and “Centro Internacional sobre el Envejecimiento” (OLD-HEPAMARKER, 0348_CIE_6_E), Spain. Project AgroForWealth (CENTRO-01-0145-FEDER-000001) funded by Centro2020, through FEDER and PT2020, financed the research contract of Susana M. Cardoso.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

End-to-end congestion control protocols for remote programming of robots, using heterogeneous networks: A comparative analysis

There are many interesting aspects of Internet Telerobotics within the network robotics context, such as variable bandwidth and time-delays. Some of these aspects have been treated in the literature from the control point of view. Moreover, only a little work is related to the way Internet protocols can help to minimize the effect of delay and bandwidth fluctuation on network robotics. In this paper, we present the capabilities of TCP, UDP, TCP Las Vegas, TEAR, and Trinomial protocols, when performing a remote experiment within a network robotics application, the UJI Industrial Telelaboratory. Comparative analysis is presented through simulations within the NS2 platform. Results show how these protocols perform in two significant situations within the network robotics context, using heterogeneous wired networks: (1) an asymmetric network when controlling the system through a ADSL connection, and (2) a symmetric network using the system on Campus. Conclusions show a set of characteristics the authors of this paper consider very important when designing an End-to-End Congestion Control transport protocol for Internet Telerobotics

Sleep disorders in COPD: the forgotten dimension

Sleep in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is commonly associated with oxygen desaturation, which may exceed the degree of desaturation during maximum exercise, both subjectively and objectively impairing sleep quality. The mechanisms of desaturation include hypoventilation and ventilation to perfusion mismatching. The consequences of this desaturation include cardiac arrhythmias, pulmonary hypertension and nocturnal death, especially during acute exacerbations. Coexistence of COPD and obstructive sleep apnoea (OSA), referred to as overlap syndrome, has been estimated to occur in 1% of the general adult population. Overlap patients have worse sleep-related hypoxaemia and hypercapnia than patients with COPD or OSA alone. OSA has a similar prevalence in COPD as in a general population of similar age, but oxygen desaturation during sleep is more pronounced when the two conditions coexist. Management of sleep-related problems in COPD should particularly focus on minimising sleep disturbance via measures to limit cough and dyspnoea; nocturnal oxygen therapy is not generally indicated for isolated nocturnal hypoxaemia. Treatment with continuous positive airway pressure alleviates hypoxaemia, reduces hospitalisation and pulmonary hypertension, and improves survival

Micrometric control of the optics of the human eye: environment or genes?

Purpose: The human eye has typically more optical aberrations than conventional artificial optical systems. While the lower order modes (defocus and astigmatism) are well studied, our purpose is to explore the influence of genes versus the environment on the higher order aberrations of the optical components of the eye. Methods: We have performed a classical twin study in a sample from the Region of Murcia (Spain). Optical aberrations using a Hartmann-Shack sensor (AOnEye Voptica SL, Murcia, Spain) and corneal aberrations (using corneal topography data) were measured in 138 eyes corresponding to 69 twins; 36 monozygotic (MZ) and 33 dizygotic (DZ) pairs (age 55 years, SD 7 years). Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to estimate how strongly aberrations of twins resemble each other, and genetic models were fitted to quantify heritability in the selected phenotypes. Results: Genes had a significant influence in the variance of most of the higher order aberration terms (heritability from 40% to 70%). This genetic influence was observed similarly in both cornea and complete eye aberrations. Additionally, the compensation factor of spherical aberration in the eye (i.e., how much corneal spherical aberration was compensated by internal spherical aberration) was found under genetic influence (heritability of 68%). Conclusions: There is a significant genetic contribution to the variance of aberrations of the eye, not only at macroscopic levels, as in myopia or astigmatism, but also at microscopic levels, where a few micrometers changes in surface topography can produce a large difference in the value of the optical aberrations