Control Strategies for the Task Definition of Constrained Bimanual Manipulation

This work describes two use-cases to present strategies for the definition of constrained bimanual manipulation tasks. We use the cooperative dual task-space (CDTS) framework, vector field inequalities (VFIs) and geometric primitives such as Plücker lines and planes to implement collision avoidance with the environment and preserve the integrity of the task. Simulations of the use-cases were carried out and showed that all implemented constraints were upheld through the execution of the bimanual manipulation task

The Influence of Oxytocin on Risk-Taking in the Balloon Analogue Risk Task Among Women with Bulimia Nervosa and Binge Eating Disorder

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Leslie, M., Leppanen, J., Paloyelis, Y., & Treasure, J. (2019). The influence of oxytocin on risk-taking in the balloon analogue risk task among women with bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 31(8), e12771. doi:10.1111/jne.12771, which has been published in final form at https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jne.12771. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.Previous theoretical models of bulimia nervosa (BN) and binge eating disorder (BED) have implicated cross-domain risk-taking behaviour as a significant maintenance factor in both disorders. The current study sought to test this hypothesis by administering the Balloon Analogue Risk Task (BART) to 25 women with BN or BED and 27 healthy comparison women without history of an eating disorder. Furthermore, we tested the effect of a divided dose of 64IU oxytocin on risk-taking behaviour in the BART. Contrary to our hypothesis, women with BN or BED did not exhibit baseline differences in performance on the BART in the placebo condition (t = 1.42, df = 50, p = .161, d = 0.39). Oxytocin did not have a main effect on performance in the BART (F = 0.01, df = 1, p = .907, η2partial < .001); however, there was an interaction such that participants in the BN/BED participant group, compared to the healthy comparison group, demonstrated safer behaviour on the BART specifically in the oxytocin condition, but not in the placebo condition (F = 4.29, df = 1, p = .044, η2partial = .082). These findings cast doubt on the common assumption that individuals with BN and BED exhibit greater risk-taking behaviour in all domains and add to evidence that oxytocin plays a functional role in modulating behaviours which entail trade-offs between reward approach and risk in humans. We recommend that future dose-response studies further investigate the effect of oxytocin on reward approach behaviour in women with recurrent binge eating behaviour and the clinical significance of this effect

Keratinized versus non-keratinized preputial flap onlay urethroplasty: does it make any difference in the histological analysis? An experimental study in rabbits

Purpose: To compare the histological characteristics of keratinized versus non-keratinized onlay island flaps in an experimental rabbit model.Materials and Methods: Sixteen male rabbits were randomly allocated into two experimental groups: keratinized and non-keratinized onlay island flaps. A defect was created in the ventral aspect of the penile urethra. in the keratinized group, a longitudinal island flap was harvested from the external prepuce and rotated to cover the urethral defect. in the non-keratinized group a transverse island flap was harvested from the inner prepuce. the animals were sacrificed after 2, 4, 8 and 12 weeks.Results: the flaps were viable in all animals, and no deaths were associated with the procedure. Two urethrocutaneous fistulas were identified, one in each experimental group. A similar pattern of fibrosis was identified in both groups. the keratinized epithelium of the external prepuce kept its histological aspect and keratin production. Both keratinized and non-keratinized groups presented a slight decrease on the epithelial thickness, however without a statistically significant difference between groups.Conclusions: in this short-term rabbit model, we observed that the stratified squamous keratinized epithelium from the external prepuce kept its keratin production. There was no statistical influence of the flap type on the mean epithelial thickness.Universidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Div Urol, São Paulo, BrazilUniversidade Federal de São Paulo UNIFESP, Div Urol, São Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc

Development and evaluation of a building energy model integrated in the TEB scheme

The use of air-conditioning systems is expected to increase as a consequence of global-scale and urban-scale climate warming. In order to represent future scenarios of urban climate and building energy consumption, the Town Energy Balance (TEB) scheme must be improved. This paper presents a new building energy model (BEM) that has been integrated in the TEB scheme. BEM-TEB makes it possible to represent the energy effects of buildings and building systems on the urban climate and to estimate the building energy consumption at city scale (~10 km) with a resolution of a neighbourhood (~100 m). The physical and geometric definition of buildings in BEM has been intentionally kept as simple as possible, while maintaining the required features of a comprehensive building energy model. The model considers a single thermal zone, where the thermal inertia of building materials associated with multiple levels is represented by a generic thermal mass. The model accounts for heat gains due to transmitted solar radiation, heat conduction through the enclosure, infiltration, ventilation, and internal heat gains. BEM allows for previously unavailable sophistication in the modelling of air-conditioning systems. It accounts for the dependence of the system capacity and efficiency on indoor and outdoor air temperatures and solves the dehumidification of the air passing through the system. Furthermore, BEM includes specific models for passive systems, such as window shadowing devices and natural ventilation. BEM has satisfactorily passed different evaluation processes, including testing its modelling assumptions, verifying that the chosen equations are solved correctly, and validating the model with field data.French National Research Agency (ANR). MUSCADE project (ANR-09-VILL-003)European Commission Framework Program (FP7/2007–2013) (BRIDGE Project grant 211345

Blood Pressure and Cognitive Decline Over 8 Years in Middle-Aged and Older Black and White Americans

Although the association between high blood pressure (BP), particularly in midlife, and late-life dementia is known, less is known about variations by race and sex. In a prospective national study of 22 164 blacks and whites ≥45 years without baseline cognitive impairment or stroke from the REGARDS cohort study (Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke), enrolled 2003 to 2007 and followed through September 2015, we measured changes in cognition associated with baseline systolic and diastolic BP (SBP and DBP), as well as pulse pressure (PP) and mean arterial pressure, and we tested whether age, race, and sex modified the effects. Outcomes were global cognition (Six-Item Screener; primary outcome), new learning (Word List Learning), verbal memory (Word List Delayed Recall), and executive function (Animal Fluency Test). Median follow-up was 8.1 years. Significantly faster declines in global cognition were associated with higher SBP, lower DBP, and higher PP with increasing age ( P<0.001 for age×SBP×follow-up-time, age×DBP×follow-up-time, and age×PP×follow-up-time interaction). Declines in global cognition were not associated with mean arterial pressure after adjusting for PP. Blacks, compared with whites, had faster declines in global cognition associated with SBP ( P=0.02) and mean arterial pressure ( P=0.04). Men, compared with women, had faster declines in new learning associated with SBP ( P=0.04). BP was not associated with decline of verbal memory and executive function, after controlling for the effect of age on cognitive trajectories. Significantly faster declines in global cognition over 8 years were associated with higher SBP, lower DBP, and higher PP with increasing age. SBP-related cognitive declines were greater in blacks and men

Infant Neural Sensitivity to Dynamic Eye Gaze relates to quality of parent–infant interaction at 7-months in infants at risk for Autism

Links between brain function measures and quality of parent–child interactions within the early developmental period have been investigated in typical and atypical development. We examined such links in a group of 104 infants with and without a family history for autism in the first year of life. Our findings suggest robust associations between event related potential responses to eye gaze and observed parent–infant interaction measures. In both groups, infants with more positive affect exhibit stronger differentiation to gaze stimuli. This association was observed with the earlier P100 waveform component in the control group but with the later P400 component in infants at-risk. These exploratory findings are critical in paving the way for a better understanding of how infant laboratory measures may relate to overt behavior and how both can be combined in the context of predicting risk or clinical diagnosis in toddlerhood

Cloacal Exstrophy: a complex disease

Introduction Cloacal exstrophy is a rare occurrence with an incidence of 1:200,000 to 1:400,000 live births. It represents one of the most challenging reconstructive endeavors faced by pediatric surgeons and urologists. Aside from the genitourinary defects, there are other associated anomalies of the gastrointestinal, musculoskeletal and neurological systems that require a multidisciplinary approach when counseling anxious parents. Material and Methods We present a video of a patient with cloacal exstrophy treated with 21 days of life. Surgery consisted of separation and tubularization of the cecal plate from the exstrophied bladder halves and colostomy construction. The bladder was closed primarily and umbilical scar reconstructed and used for ureteral and cistostomy drainage. A urethral catheter was used to guide bladder neck tubularization. A final epispadic penis was obtained and planned for further repair in a second step. Results The patient had an initial uneventful postoperative course and immediate outcome was excellent. The bladder healed nicely but patient presented with abdominal distension in the 5th day of postoperative setting requiring parenteral nutrition. The distal colon persisted with lower diameter although non obstructive, but causing difficulty for fecal progression. Continuous colostomy dilatation and irrigation were required. Conclusions Approximating the bladder halves in the midline at birth and primary bladder closure is a viable option, intestinal transit may be a issue of concern in the early postoperative follow-up.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) Division of UrologyUNIFESP, Division of UrologySciEL

Análisis de las relaciones en los negocios B2B desde la perspectiva de la teoría del comportamiento de compra de las organizaciones en el sector electrotecnia, año 2018

La presente tesis tiene como objetivo estudiar el comportamiento del consumidor derivando del estado actual del marketing que se centra en las necesidades del consumidor. Refiriéndose de esta manera al conjunto de actividades que se realiza con el único fin que una persona o un negocio, desde que tiene una necesidad hasta el momento en que efectúa la compra utiliza, posteriormente el producto. En el B2B resulta más complicado hacer llegar el mensaje a nuestros clientes potenciales, sea por una cuestión cuantitativa, ya que normalmente es un número de personas mucho menor y, en segundo lugar, porque pertenecen a un nicho mucho más segmentado. Las empresas que se muestran mediante esta tesis son más flexibles a adquirir productos y servicios a otras empresas con las que se sienten identificadas, consideran que las representan y están alineadas con los valores que desean negociar. La teoría del comportamiento ofrece una diversidad de estilos de administración a la habilidad del administrador. Cada teoría administrativa se basa en doctrinas sobre la forma por la cual las personas se comportan dentro de las organizaciones. Marca definitivamente la transferencia del énfasis en la estructura organizacional para el énfasis en las personas. Con esta tesis se pretende lograr un acercamiento teórico en el campo. Para ello, se identificarán los principales temas en los cuales resalta la investigación sobre el comportamiento conductual de la organización en la que se ha centrado y sugerir las posibles direcciones futuras en referencia a la investigación

Verifying Real-Time Systems using Explicit-time Description Methods

Timed model checking has been extensively researched in recent years. Many new formalisms with time extensions and tools based on them have been presented. On the other hand, Explicit-Time Description Methods aim to verify real-time systems with general untimed model checkers. Lamport presented an explicit-time description method using a clock-ticking process (Tick) to simulate the passage of time together with a group of global variables for time requirements. This paper proposes a new explicit-time description method with no reliance on global variables. Instead, it uses rendezvous synchronization steps between the Tick process and each system process to simulate time. This new method achieves better modularity and facilitates usage of more complex timing constraints. The two explicit-time description methods are implemented in DIVINE, a well-known distributed-memory model checker. Preliminary experiment results show that our new method, with better modularity, is comparable to Lamport's method with respect to time and memory efficiency

An unusual presentation of urethral duplication presenting with chronic bladder retention, left scrotal transposition and left renal agenesis

Introduction and objective: Urethral duplication is a rare congenital anomaly, with roughly 200 cases reported in the literature (1). It is more frequent in males, with few cases reported in females. The clinical presentation differs according to the anatomical variant present. The duplication most commonly occurs in the sagittal plane with one urethra located ventrally and the other dorsally (2). Usually the ventral urethra is the more functional of both. Duplications occurring in the coronal plane are quite rare and they are usually associated with bladder duplication (3). The purpose of this paper was to present a video of a boy with an unusual urethral duplication form. Materials and Methods: Patient was born premature due to oligohydramnios at 7 months-gestational age and he has initial diagnosis of hypospadia. Since then, he presented at least 7 febrile UTI and mother complained of difficult micturition and a presence of a mass at lower abdomen. Patient was referred to our institution and we identified urethral duplication with a glandar and scrotal meatus, palpable bladder and left penile-hemiscrotum transposition. US and CT-scan showed left kidney agenesis and overdistended bladder. VCUG and retrograde urethrography showed duplication, presence of contrast in the seminal vesicles and complete catheterizing of both urethras was not possible. Results: The topic urethra was dysplastic and not patent to a 4Fr plastic tube so we were unable to access it endoscopically. We performed initially a Mitrofanoff procedure to allow CIC and treat chronic retention. Six months later, we assessed both urethras surgically and concluded that dorsal urethra was dysplastic after 3cm still in the penile area and scrotal urethra was not possible to be catheterized. We excised the ventral urethra because of dribbling complaints up to bulbar area and reconstructed the scrotal transposition, keeping the topic urethra for cosmetic issues. Patient had excellent outcome, performs CIC every 4 hours and has not presented further UTI episodes. Discussion and conclusion: The urethral duplication is an anomaly that has multiple anatomical presentations. There are several theories about the etiology, but none can explain all types of presentations. There is also more than one rating available, and the Effmann classification is the most detailed. The case exemplifies this varied spectrum of anatomic urethral duplication. It resembles the urethral duplication type IIa-Y, however, ventral urethra meatus was located in penoscrotal area and both urethras were at least partially hypoplastic/dysplastic associated with obstruction and bladder retention. In determining how to best manage a patient with Y-type urethral duplication, the caliber and quality of the orthotopic urethra must first be assessed. Published reports suggest that best outcomes are those using the ventral duplicated urethra for the reconstruction (4). In this case, none of urethras were functional and a supravesical outlet channel had to be provided. The treatment of this condition requires an individualized planning and a vast technical knowledge of reconstructive surgery.Univ Fed Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, BrazilUniv Fed Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, BrazilWeb of Scienc