Online estimation of rollator user condition using spatiotemporal gait parameters

Assistance to people during rehabilitation has to be adapted to their needs. Too little help can lead to frustration and stress in the user; an excess of help may lead to low participation and loss of residual skills. Robotic rollators may adapt assistance. The main challenge to cope with this issue is to estimate how much help is needed on the fly, because it depends not only on the person condition, but also on the specific situation that they are negotiating. Clinical scales provide a global condition based estimation, but no local estimator based on punctual needs. Condition also changes in time, so clinical scales need to be recalculated again and again. In this paper we propose a novel approach to estimate users’ condition in a continuous way via a robotic rollator. Our work focuses on predicting the value of the well known Tinetti Mobility test from spatiotemporal gait parameters obtained from our platform while users walk. This prediction provides continuous insight on the condition of the user and could be used to modify the amount of help provided. The proposed method has been validated with 19 volunteers at a local hospital that use a rollator for rehabilitation. All volunteers presented some physical or mental disabilities. Our results sucessfully show a high correlation of spatiotemporal gait parameters with Tinetti Mobility test gait (R2 = 0.7) and Tinetti Mobility test balance (R2 = 0.6).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Eudemonismo y Libertad en la Filosofía Moral de Ludwig Feuerbach

El trabajo filosófico de Ludwig Feuerbach es conocido, principalmente, por su crítica religiosa y filosófica, la cual, a su vez, asienta las bases de su característica antropología filosófica. En este sentido, la antropología feuerbachiana viene definida principalmente por los conceptos de Gattungswesen y Sinnlichkeit, los cuales denotan el carácter eminentemente relacional y sensible del ser humano. Teniendo esto en cuenta, el objetivo del presente trabajo es presentar la filosofía moral de Feuerbach desde la perspectiva eudemonista que la caracteriza a partir de la concepción antropológica sobre la que se sustenta, definida por el principio de Sinnlichkeit. En este sentido, la categoría fundamental de la propuesta ética de Feuerbach radica en el impulso de felicidad, definido ante todo en términos sensibles y de reciprocidad. Así mismo, el trabajo reflexiona sobre las implicaciones del eudemonismo y sensualismo con respecto a la libertad humana y su conciliación con la determinación natural que se deriva de la antropología feuerbachiana.ThephilosophicalworkofLudwigFeuerbachisknownprimarilyforitsreligiousandphilosophicalcriticism, which, in turn, laysthefoundationof hisphilosophicalanthropology. In thissense, feuerbachiananthropology comes mainlydefinedbytheconcepts of GattungswesenandSinnlichkeit, which denote theeminentlyrelational and sensitivenature of human beings.Withthis in mind, theaim of thispaperis to presentFeuerbach's moral philosophyfromitseudemonisticperspective, whichisbasedonananthropologicalconceptionthat comes mainlydefinedbytheprinciple of Sinnlichkeit. In thissense, themaincategory of Feuerbach'sethicalproposallies in thevery idea of a drive-to-happiness, definedprimarily in terms of sensitiveness and reciprocity. Likewise, thepaperreflectsontheimplications of eudemonism and sensitivenessregarding human freedom and thepossibility of itsreconciliationwiththe natural determinationderivedfromFeuerbach'santhropology

Zero-thickness interface model with chemical degradation by acid attack

Carbon dioxide (CO2) storage in abandoned oil/gas reservoirs is considered a viable alternative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere. An important element of the risk associated with long-term CO2 storage is the loss of integrity of the cement seals of the abandoned wells in the reservoir. Among others, one possible cause of loss of integrity is the degradation of the oil-well cement due to the acid attack of the carbonated brine in the reservoir. In previous studies, the authors have developed a diffusion-reaction model for simulating this degradation process. In order to study possible coupled Chemo-Mechanical (CM) mechanisms, this model will be coupled with an existing mechanical model. For this purpose, in this paper, an existing constitutive law for zero-thickness interface, based on the theory of elasto-plasticity with concepts of fracture mechanics, is modified to incorporate the effect of chemical degradation on the mechanical strength parameters. Preliminary results obtained with this new constitutive law are presented, in order to illustrate the main aspects of the proposed constitutive law, as well as a possible C-M degradation mechanism that should be considered in the long-term safety assessment of CO2 geological storage projects

El léxico económico en el DRAE a comienzos del siglo XXI

Ante la situación social y económica en la que estamos inmersos, el léxico económico y comercial adquiere un protagonismo y, consecuentemente, una relevancia que transciende del ámbito diatécnico en el que se empleaba de forma mayoritaria para ser usado en otras esferas mucho más generalistas. Además, si a esto se le añade el hecho de que la Real Academia de la Lengua Española (RAE) ha anunciado la aparición de la vigésimo tercera edición de su diccionario, resulta oportuno y necesario el poder examinar cómo aparece consignado este tipo de léxico en él