Experimental Validation of a Robotic Stretcher for Casualty Evacuation in a Man-Made Disaster Exercise

This paper describes a cooperative search and rescue exercise where an unmanned ground vehicle (UGV) is used by a military rescue team for extraction and evacuation of a casualty from an unsafe man-made disaster area. This experimental validation was performed within a full-scale emergency response exercise organized on June 2019 by the Chair of Safety, Emergencies and Disasters at Universidad de Málaga (Spain). With this purpose, we adapted the skid-steer Rambler robot to carry a stretcher with appropriate roll-in and locking mechanisms. The mission consisted of two phases: first, extraction from the hot zone was performed with remote teleoperation using a dummy; second, casualty evacuation (CASEVAC) to an aeromedical evacuation point was done with sightline teleoperation moving an actual volunteer. The realistic one-shot exercise was performed by actual rescue personnel with no previous experience with the robotic system. The paper shares insight and lessons learned from this concept validation experience.This work was partially supported by the project ``TRUST-ROB: Towards Resilient UGV and UAV Manipulator Teams for Robotic Search and Rescue Tasks'', funded by the Spanish Government (RTI2018-093421-B-I00). Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Carga de trabajo en diferentes asignaturas que experimentan el sistema ECTS

In the last few years, some university professors have been undertaking activities in anticipation to the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS). One of the great worries these professors have is the workload stemming from this type of methodology compared to more traditional teaching methods. In this paper we present the results of a study which has systematically counted the work hours one must dedicate to subject matters under the ECTS system. The number of hours concern both educators and students in three separate cases. Empirical data show the viability of implementing this type of proposals in the actual conditions in Spanish universities.En los últimos años parte del profesorado universitario está realizando experiencias de anticipación del sistema European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) dentro del proceso de Convergencia hacía el Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES). Una de las mayores preocupaciones es la excesiva carga de trabajo que puede suponer la utilización de este tipo de metodologías respecto a los modelos de enseñanza tradicional. En este trabajo presentamos los resultados encontrados al realizar un recuento sistemático de la cantidad de horas de trabajo que supone llevar a cabo asignaturas basadas en la metodología de aprendizaje que están en la línea propugnada por el sistema ECTS. Hemos realizado el recuento en tres casos, tanto en lo relativo al trabajo del alumnado como al trabajo del profesorado. Los datos empíricos recogidos demuestran que generar este tipo de propuestas es viable en las condiciones actuales de trabajo en muchas de las universidades españolas

Palatal fenestration after orthodontic treatment. Intermodal approach and evolution. A case report

A 15-year-old patient is referred to the Department of Periodontics of the University of Valencia. The patient reported dissatisfaction with the position of upper right canine after orthodontic treatment. Previously, in a private center, surgical approaches were performed for the traction of the canine included. On clinical examination at first appointment, generalized plaque-induced gingivitis was observed, with palatal fenestration of the root of upper right lateral incisor of approximately 75% of the total surface, with suppuration and very little gingiva inserted at the cervical level, which presents a buccal torque of the crown. Radiologically, a mild rhizolysis and bone loss adjacent to upper right lateral incisor was observed. An interdisciplinary treatment is decided between the departments of Orthodontics, Endodontics and Periodontics: - Canal treatment of upper right lateral incisor, performing a retrograde filling of the cavity with Biodentine ® (Septodent, Saint Maur de Fossés, France). - Orthodontic treatment, modifying the torque and improving the stability. - Periodontal treatment, performing a connective tissue graft by Langer technique adapted to the case. After the conclusion of the orthodontic treatment, an improvement in the situation is observed. The graft was performed, presenting at 3 months a line of fenestration in the mucosa. At 4 years, the patient is asymptomatic, without suppuration, with a total closure of the fenestration

Surface modification of Al2O3–ZrO2(Y2O3) eutectic oxides by laser melting: processing and wear resistance

Surface coatings of pseudo-binary Al2O3–Zr2O3(Y2O3) eutectic oxides were produced by laser melting of the surface of conventionally sintered materials using a high-power diode laser. It was possible to obtain smooth, homogeneous, and crack-free coatings up to 50_7 mm2 in area by carefully controlling the processing conditions (laser power, traveling speed of the specimen, and substrate temperature). The surface treatment was aimed at creating a dense, wear-resistant coating based on the eutectic microstructure generated upon solidification. The microstructure of the coating was formed by elongated colonies, and was similar to that found in rods grown by the laser-heated floating zone method at the same growth rates. The laser-melted coating presented much higher hardness and wear resistance than the sintered materials, and the optimum mechanical properties were measured in samples treated at 500 mm/h with a laser line power of 65–80 W/cm. These samples presented a hardness and wear rate of 19.770.4 GPa and 3.8_10_6 mm3/N m, respectively, while those of the conventionally sintered materials were 14.37 0.2 GPa and 2.3_10_6 mm3/N m

A core of three amino acids at the carboxyl-terminal region of glutamine synthetase defines its regulation in cyanobacteria

© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Glutamine synthetase (GS) type I is a key enzyme in nitrogen metabolism, and its activity is finely controlled by cellular carbon/nitrogen balance. In cyanobacteria, a reversible process that involves protein-protein interaction with two proteins, the inactivating factors IF7 and IF17, regulates GS. Previously, we showed that three arginine residues of IFs are critical for binding and inhibition of GS. In this work, taking advantage of the specificity of GS/IFs interaction in the model cyanobacteria Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803 and Anabaena sp. PCC 7120, we have constructed a different chimeric GSs from these two cyanobacteria. Analysis of these proteins, together with a site-directed mutagenesis approach, indicates that a core of three residues (E419, N456 and R459) is essential for the inactivation process. The three residues belong to the last 56 amino acids of the C-terminus of SynechocystisGS. A protein-protein docking modeling of SynechocystisGS in complex with IF7 supports the role of the identified core for GS/IF interaction.Peer Reviewe

Regulation of Gephyrin Cluster Size and Inhibitory Synaptic Currents on Renshaw Cells by Motor Axon Excitatory Inputs

Renshaw cells receive a high density of inhibitory synapses characterized by large postsynaptic gephyrin clusters and mixed glycinergic/ GABAergic inhibitory currents with large peak amplitudes and long decays. These properties appear adapted to increase inhibitory efficacy over Renshaw cells and mature postnatally by mechanisms that are unknown. We tested the hypothesis that heterosynaptic influences from excitatory motor axon inputs modulate the development of inhibitory synapses on Renshaw cells. Thus, tetanus (TeNT) and botulinum neurotoxin A (BoNT-A) were injected intramuscularly at postnatal day 5 (P5) to, respectively, elevate or reduce motor axon firing activity for 2 weeks. After TeNT injections, the average gephyrin cluster areas on Renshaw cells increased by 18.4% at P15 and 28.4% at P20 and decreased after BoNT-A injections by 17.7% at P15 and 19.9% at P20. The average size differences resulted from changes in the proportions of small and large gephyrin clusters. Whole-cell recordings in P9 –P15 Renshaw cells after P5 TeNT injections showed increases in the peak amplitude of glycinergic miniature postsynaptic currents (mPSCs) and the fast component of mixed (glycinergic/GABAergic) mPSCs compared with controls (60.9% and 78.9%, respectively). GABAergic mPSCs increased in peak amplitude to a smaller extent (45.8%). However, because of the comparatively longer decays of synaptic GABAergic currents, total current transfer changes after TeNT were similar for synaptic glycine and GABAA receptors (56 vs 48.9% increases, respectively). We concluded that motor axon excitatory synaptic activity modulates the development of inhibitory synapse properties on Renshaw cells, influencing recruitment of postsynaptic gephyrin and glycine receptors and, to lesser extent, GABAA receptors

Electronic structure and experimental benchmarking of aluminum spinels for solar water splitting

A computational methodology for screening aluminum-based spinel oxides for photoelectrochemical water splitting has been developed by combining HSE06 and PBE + U calculations. The method, which can be extended to other ternary oxides, provides values for formation energies, band gaps, band edge positions, and carrier effective masses. The formation energies indicate that the Al spinels of Mg, Co, Ni, and Zn (successfully synthesized using a sol-gel method) are among the most stable in the series. Except for the Mg and Zn cases, the electronic structures of the spinels are rather similar, with band gaps separating occupied and empty 3 d metal states. The charge-transfer band gap values are found to be above 3 eV, limiting the use of these materials in solar water splitting, although an estimate of the band edge positions indicates that, in general, both conduction band electrons and valence band holes can promote water reduction and oxidation, respectively. The effective masses of the charge carriers suggests that the spinels are n-type semiconductors as experimentally demonstrated. Importantly, both the UV–vis spectra and the photoelectrochemical results qualitatively agree with the theoretical electronic structure. In general vein, this work demonstrates the potential of theoretical screening for the development and selection of new photoelectrode materials based on ternary oxides for their application in solar water splitting.The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement no. 760930 (FotoH2 project). This research was also partially funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondos FEDER through project PID2021-128876OB-I00 and by the Generalitat Valenciana through project PROMETEO/2020/089. F.J.P. also acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Education for the award of an FPU grant