Assistive mobility devices focusing on smart walkers : classification and review

In an aging society it is extremely important to develop devices, which can support and aid the elderly in their daily life. This demands means and tools that extend independent living and promote improved health. Thus, the goal of this article is to review the state of the art in the robotic technology for mobility assistive devices for people with mobility disabilities. The important role that robotics can play in mobility assistive devices is presented, as well as the identification and survey of mobility assistive devices subsystems with a particular focus on the walkers technology. The advances in the walkers’ field have been enormous and have shown a great potential on helping people with mobility disabilities. Thus it is presented a review of the available literature of walkers and are discussed major advances that have been made and limitations to be overcome

Review and classification of human gait training and rehabilitation devices

The number of people with reduced mobility capabilities increases every year. This reduction arises mainly due to spinal cord injuries; strokes which caused hemiparesis; or due to an advanced age. This decrease in mobility is a factor that influences both their quality of life and their dependence of others in daily life. Thus, it becomes necessary to find means and tools to prevent, compensate, improve or help to restore and increase the mobility of the affected people. The main expectation is that such means help to recover or ameliorate their independence in their daily life. Traditional training employs a treadmill with a support-weight system. This training is based on the principle of repetition of all the physical movements of a gait and has shown to produce good results in terms of rehabilitation of patients. However, this therapy requires two or more therapists in assisting patients during walking, to hold and adjust the patient’s lower limbs to correctly produce the desired gait. Thus, it requires a substantial commitment and effort of the therapists [1], and it is very expensive in terms of human resources. This leads to a boost on the population healthcare and assistive services demand and, thus an increase in the need for care givers. Assistive mobility robotic devices for gait training of disabled patients in treadmills and in the ground are one successful alternative. Other alternatives include devices that allow a broader training of patients, in different ground types, and the repetition of gait movements in uphill, downhill and trip. This paper reviews state of the art training gait devices focusing on passive and active devices. Passive devices rely on the principle of Gravity-Balancing in that they try to reduce or eliminate the effects of gravity during walking. Active devices are usually classified according to three different approaches: (i) treadmillexoskeleton based devices, (ii) robotic manipulators generating different types of gait patterns, and (iii) mobilite devices. In this review, several examples of current devices are presented

Revisão e classificação de dispositivos de treino e reabilitação da marcha humana

O treino de marcha convencional recorre a uma passadeira. Este tipo de treino comporta custos consideráveis, para além de exigir o constante envolvimento e esforço de dois ou três terapeutas. De modo a reduzir este esforço, inúmeros grupos de investigação têm desenvolvido uma série de alternativas a este método através da ajuda de dispositivos robóticos que realizam a assistência de pacientes na passadeira. Para além destes, têm surgido outros dispositivos que permitem um treino mais alargado dos pacientes no sentido em que permitem ao paciente executar a sua marcha no solo, bem como a repetição de movimentos de subida, descida e de tropeçar

The effects of graded levels of calorie restriction : IV. Non-linear change in behavioural phenotype of mice in response to short-term calorie restriction

We would like to acknowledge the BSU staff for their invaluable help with caring for the animals. The work was supported by the UK Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council BBSRC (BB/G009953/1 and BB/J020028/1).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Transverse Momentum Spectra of Pions in Particle and Nuclear Collisions and Some Ratio-Behaviours: Towards A Combinational Approach

The nature of transverse momentum dependence of the inclusive cross-sections for secondary pions produced in high energy hadronic($PP$), hadronuclear($PA$) and nuclear($AA$) collisions has here been exhaustively investigated for a varied range of interactions in a unified way with the help of a master formula. This formula evolved from a new combination of the basic Hagedorn's model for particle(pion) production in PP scattering at ISR range of energies, a phenomenological approach proposed by Peitzmann for converting the results of $NN(PP)$ reactions to those for either $PA$ or $AA$ collisions, and a specific form of parametrization for mass number-dependence of the nuclear cross sections. This grand combination of models(GCM) is then applied to analyse the assorted extensive data on various high energy collisions. The nature of qualitative agreement between measurements and calculations on both the inclusive cross-sections for production of pions, and some ratios of them as well, is quite satisfactory. The modest successes that we achieve here in dealing with the massive data-sets are somewhat encouraging in view of the diversity of the reactions and the very wide range of interaction energies.Comment: 19 pages, 19 figure

New York State dairy farmers' perceptions of antibiotic use and resistance : A qualitative interview study

Antibiotic resistance is a global problem affecting both human and animal health. Ensuring the strategic and effective use of antibiotics is paramount to combatting the emergence and spread of resistance. This study explored New York State (NYS) dairy farmers' perceptions regarding antibiotic use in dairy farming and antibiotic resistance. Dairy farmers' perceptions were assessed through semi-structured, in-person interviews. Twenty interviews with farm owners and/or managers of 15 conventional and five USDA certified organic dairy farms with 40 to 2,300 lactating cows were conducted. Thematic analysis was used to assess, compare and contrast transcripts for farmers' characterization of their beliefs, values, and concerns. Conventional dairy farmers had a low level of concern about the possible impacts of on-farm antibiotic resistance on human health and believed their antibiotic use was already judicious. Generally, they believed their cattle's health would suffer if antibiotic use were further curtailed. Conventional farmers expressed frustration over the possibility of more stringent governmental, milk cooperative, buyer, or marketer requirements for antibiotic use and associated animal welfare in the future. They attributed expanding regulations in part to misinformed consumer preferences, that farmers felt were influenced by the marketing of organic dairy products. Organic dairy farmers were generally more concerned about issues related to antibiotic resistance than conventional farmers. Both conventional and organic farmers placed emphasis on disease prevention through herd health management rather than treatment. In conclusion, the conventional NYS dairy farmers in this study were skeptical of the need for and benefits of reduced antibiotic use on their dairy farms. Interventions for farmers, delivered by a trusted source such as a veterinarian, that provide training about proper antibiotic use practices and information of possible financial benefits of refining antibiotic use may hold promise

Particle Ratios, Equilibration, and the QCD Phase Boundary

We discuss the status of thermal model descriptions of particle ratios in central nucleus-nucleus collisions at ultra-relativistic energy. An alternative to the ``Cleymans-Redlich'' interpretation of the freeze-out trajectory is given in terms of the total baryon density. Emphasis is placed on the relation between the chemical equilibration parameters and the QCD phase boundary. Furthermore, we trace the essential difference between thermal model analyses of data from collisions between elementary particles and from heavy ion collisions as due to a transition from local strangeness conservation to percolation of strangeness over large volumes, as occurs naturally in a deconfined medium. We also discuss predictions of the thermal model for composite particle production.Comment: Contribution to SQM2001 Conference, submitted to J. Phys.