Neuro-mechanical entrainment in a bipedal robotic walking platform

In this study, we investigated the use of van der Pol oscillators in a 4-dof embodied bipedal robotic platform for the purposes of planar walking. The oscillator controlled the hip and knee joints of the robot and was capable of generating waveforms with the correct frequency and phase so as to entrain with the mechanical system. Lowering its oscillation frequency resulted in an increase to the walking pace, indicating exploitation of the global natural dynamics. This is verified by its operation in absence of entrainment, where faster limb motion results in a slower overall walking pace

Warm dark matter and the ionization history of the Universe

In warm dark matter scenarios structure formation is suppressed on small scales with respect to the cold dark matter case, reducing the number of low-mass halos and the fraction of ionized gas at high redshifts and thus, delaying reionization. This has an impact on the ionization history of the Universe and measurements of the optical depth to reionization, of the evolution of the global fraction of ionized gas and of the thermal history of the intergalactic medium, can be used to set constraints on the mass of the dark matter particle. However, the suppression of the fraction of ionized medium in these scenarios can be partly compensated by varying other parameters, as the ionization efficiency or the minimum mass for which halos can host star-forming galaxies. Here we use different data sets regarding the ionization and thermal histories of the Universe and, taking into account the degeneracies from several astrophysical parameters, we obtain a lower bound on the mass of thermal warm dark matter candidates of $m_X > 1.3$ keV, or $m_s > 5.5$ keV for the case of sterile neutrinos non-resonantly produced in the early Universe, both at 90\% confidence level.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figure

Regional Impacts of non-R&D Innovation Expenditures across the EU Regions: Simulation Results Using the Rhomolo CGE Model

In the EU, a sizable part of innovation is attributed to the activities other than R&D such as purchases of advanced machinery, licenses, patents and minor modifications in products or processes. These non-R&D innovation activities receive substantial funding from the European cohesion policy (ECP). In this paper we applied the dynamic spatial computable general equilibrium model RHOMOLO to evaluate the ex-ante short and long run economic impacts of 2014-2023 non-R&D innovation subsidies allocated to the EU27 NUTS2 regions. The results of computer simulations show that the most notable welfare improvements (GDP, production and household consumption) were observed in the Eastern EU regions that receive the largest share of funding. Such outcome is in line with the goals of the European Cohesion Policy of stimulating economic convergence of the least developed regions. As was expected, the magnitude of macroeconomic impacts positively correlates with the amount of non-R&D subsidies allotted to the regions.JRC.J.2-Knowledge for Growt

A fresh look into the interacting dark matter scenario

The elastic scattering between dark matter particles and radiation represents an attractive possibility to solve a number of discrepancies between observations and standard cold dark matter predictions, as the induced collisional damping would imply a suppression of small-scale structures. We consider this scenario and confront it with measurements of the ionization history of the Universe at several redshifts and with recent estimates of the counts of Milky Way satellite galaxies. We derive a conservative upper bound on the dark matter-photon elastic scattering cross section of $\sigma_{\gamma \rm{DM}} < 8 \times 10^{-10} \, \sigma_T \, \left(m_{\rm DM}/{\rm GeV}\right)$ at $95\%$~CL, about one order of magnitude tighter than previous {constraints from satellite number counts}. Due to the strong degeneracies with astrophysical parameters, the bound on the dark matter-photon scattering cross section derived here is driven by the estimate of the number of Milky Way satellite galaxies. Finally, we also argue that future 21~cm probes could help in disentangling among possible non-cold dark matter candidates, such as interacting and warm dark matter scenarios. Let us emphasize that bounds of similar magnitude to the ones obtained here could be also derived for models with dark matter-neutrino interactions and would be as constraining as the tightest limits on such scenarios.Comment: 23 pages, 7 figures. v2: matches the published version. Included discussion on the applicability of constraints derived on dark matter-photon interactions to dark matter-neutrino interactions. References adde

Aspects of paediatric in-patient care: views of parents and school aged children

The objectives of this project were to investigate the idea of family-centred care from the parents' and children's perspectives, to find out the difference between theory and practice, and to seek parents' views on methods for improving hospital environment and its facilities for children and parents. This study was conducted in a junior school in County Durham using qualitative and quantitative research methods. The data were obtained via surveying parents and children, interviewing parents whose children had been in hospital and collecting drawings from children. The facilities for families, parents and children in hospital might have shown some improvement, however there are several aspects that still need to be achieved. Some parents asserted that their basic needs were not being met during their hospital stay with their children. The mothers argued that having a sick child in hospital has an impact on the whole family and hospitals need to give some attention to their concerns. Although many professionals presume that they are working with a family-centred care approach, it is not clear to what extent this concept has been put into practice. The mothers reported the need for adequate communication and negotiation with health professionals to facilitate mutual collaboration and to avoid the anxiety that the participation in care might cause to parents and children. It has been proposed by some parents that home care could replace hospital-based care. The concern was that support for home care might be inadequate. Mothers in this study also proposed that the practice of home care could be facilitated by having direct communication with named nurses and doctors, using dedicated phone lines. Community nurses have also a part to play in home care. It would be important to consider innovations more proactive to health promotion such as parenting advice about healthy and unhealthy behaviour