Consensus statement of the Italian society of pediatric allergy and immunology for the pragmatic management of children and adolescents with allergic or immunological diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has surprised the entire population. The world has had to face an unprecedented pandemic. Only, Spanish flu had similar disastrous consequences. As a result, drastic measures (lockdown) have been adopted worldwide. Healthcare service has been overwhelmed by the extraordinary influx of patients, often requiring high intensity of care. Mortality has been associated with severe comorbidities, including chronic diseases. Patients with frailty were, therefore, the victim of the SARS-COV-2 infection. Allergy and asthma are the most prevalent chronic disorders in children and adolescents, so they need careful attention and, if necessary, an adaptation of their regular treatment plans. Fortunately, at present, young people are less suffering from COVID-19, both as incidence and severity. However, any age, including infancy, could be affected by the pandemic. Based on this background, the Italian Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology has felt it necessary to provide a Consensus Statement. This expert panel consensus document offers a rationale to help guide decision-making in the management of children and adolescents with allergic or immunologic diseases

Acute Delta Hepatitis in Italy spanning three decades (1991–2019): Evidence for the effectiveness of the hepatitis B vaccination campaign

Updated incidence data of acute Delta virus hepatitis (HDV) are lacking worldwide. Our aim was to evaluate incidence of and risk factors for acute HDV in Italy after the introduction of the compulsory vaccination against hepatitis B virus (HBV) in 1991. Data were obtained from the National Surveillance System of acute viral hepatitis (SEIEVA). Independent predictors of HDV were assessed by logistic-regression analysis. The incidence of acute HDV per 1-million population declined from 3.2 cases in 1987 to 0.04 in 2019, parallel to that of acute HBV per 100,000 from 10.0 to 0.39 cases during the same period. The median age of cases increased from 27 years in the decade 1991-1999 to 44 years in the decade 2010-2019 (p < .001). Over the same period, the male/female ratio decreased from 3.8 to 2.1, the proportion of coinfections increased from 55% to 75% (p = .003) and that of HBsAg positive acute hepatitis tested for by IgM anti-HDV linearly decreased from 50.1% to 34.1% (p < .001). People born abroad accounted for 24.6% of cases in 2004-2010 and 32.1% in 2011-2019. In the period 2010-2019, risky sexual behaviour (O.R. 4.2; 95%CI: 1.4-12.8) was the sole independent predictor of acute HDV; conversely intravenous drug use was no longer associated (O.R. 1.25; 95%CI: 0.15-10.22) with this. In conclusion, HBV vaccination was an effective measure to control acute HDV. Intravenous drug use is no longer an efficient mode of HDV spread. Testing for IgM-anti HDV is a grey area requiring alert. Acute HDV in foreigners should be monitored in the years to come

A Radial Basis Functions approach to collision avoidance in collaborative tasks

In the last years, collaborative human-robot applications have become more and more appealing thanks to the robot's easiness of programming and the promise of increasing precision and safety. However, by combining two resources (the cobot and the human operator) there is a problem of safety since cobot and human operator have to work in the same workspace. To ensure human safety, the distance between robot and operator must be assessed and the robot must adapt accordingly either by reducing its velocity or by modifying its trajectory. In this paper, we propose a new online method to adapt the trajectory of the robot to the human movements using a single depth camera. This algorithm eliminates the robot from the scene using a simple calibration process. Then, it interpolates the shared workspace, captured by the depth camera, using Radial Basis Functions (RBFs). The result is a continuous function that is representative of the risk of collision with obstacles on the plane. Its gradient is used as a repulsive potential in the Artificial Potential Field (APF) method to generate the path. This method eliminates the need to calculate the distance between operator and robot since it is intrinsically considered in the potentials. Results shows the validity of the method

Iterative Path Planning of a Serial Manipulator in a Cluttered Known Environment

Robot path planning in a cluttered environment can be a challenging task. In this paper, a new algorithm is proposed to perform path planning of a point-to-point motion of an industrial manipulator. The algorithm starts from a simple joint interpolated movement and, by computing collision detection along the path, creates a set of via-points that form a path which allows the robot to move to the end position without any collision. In the paper, the new algorithm is presented and compared in simulation to other methods

Effect of End-Effector Compliance on Collisions in Robotic Teleoperation

In robotic teleoperation, hard impacts between a tool and the manipulated object may impair the success of a task. In order to develop a robotic system that is able to minimize the final velocity of an object after impact, a comprehensive approach is adopted in this work, and the effect on the impact of the parameters of the tool and of the robot is studied. Mass, contact stiffness and damping, robot compliance and control and tool compliance are taken into account. A mathematical model including the tool and the robot moving along the approach direction shows that, in most conditions, robot compliance is not enough to mitigate the impact. A mechanical decoupling between the inertia of the tool and the inertia of the robot is needed. An elastic system based on a bi-stable mechanism is developed and its validity is shown by means of numerical simulations

Development and validation of an end-effector for mitigation of collisions

In robotics, the risk of collisions is present both in industrial applications and in remote handling. If a collision occurs, the impact may damage both the robot and external equipment, which may result in successive imprecise robot tasks or line stops, reducing robot efficiency. As a result, appropriate collision avoidance algorithms should be used or, if it is not possible, the robot must be able to react to impacts reducing the contact forces. For this purpose, this paper focuses on the development of a special end-effector that can withstand impacts. It is able to protect the robot from impulsive forces caused by collisions of the end-effector, but it has no effect on possible collisions between the links and obstacles. The novel end-effector is based on a bi-stable mechanism that decouples the dynamics of the end-effector from the dynamics of the robot. The intrinsically nonlinear behavior of the end-effector is investigated with the aid of numerical simulations. The effect of design parameters and operating conditions are analyzed and the interaction between the functioning of the bi-stable mechanism and the control system is studied. In particular, the effect of the mechanism in different scenarios characterized by different robot velocities is shown. Results of numerical simulations assess the validity of the proposed end-effector, which can lead to large reductions in impact forces. Numerical results are validated by means of specific laboratory tests

Development of a Hydraulic System for the Mitigation of End-Effector Collisions

The increasing number of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, and the adoption of collaborative robots in the industry are rising the necessity for the development of systems and algorithms able to detect and mitigate collisions. These are due to the probabilistic nature of AI applications and the environment. Indeed, an AI can perform poorly in unpredictable scenarios, and a cobot may face a distracted operator. These scenarios result in an unsafe situation where the robot impacts with its external environment. Solutions must be developed to mitigate these impacts with obstacles and manipulated objects. This paper presents a hydraulic module to be interposed between the end-effector and the robot flange. This module decouples the end-effector from the robot along the approach axis of the end-effector, thus mitigating the effects of accidental collisions occurring in such direction. Numerical results show the pros and cons of the new system

Development of an end-effector for mitigation of collisions

In robotics the risk of collisions is present both in industrial applications and in remote handling. If a collision occurs, the impact may damage both the robot and external equipment, which may result in successive imprecise robot tasks or line stops, reducing robot efficiency. As a result, appropriate collision avoidance algorithms should be used or, if it is not possible, the robot must be able to react to impacts reducing the contact forces. For this purpose, this paper focuses on the development of a special end-effector that can withstand impacts and is able to protect the robot from impulsive forces. The novel end-effector is based on a bi-stable mechanism that decouples the dynamics of the end-effector from the dynamics of the robot. The intrinsically non-linear behavior of the end-effector is investigated with the aid of numerical simulations. The effect of design parameters and the operating conditions are analyzed and the interaction between the functioning of the bi-stable mechanism and the control system is studied. In particular, the effect of the mechanism in different scenarios characterized by different robot velocities is shown. Results of numerical simulations assess the validity of the proposed end-effector, which can lead to large reductions in impact forces

COMPARISON BETWEEN HYDRAULIC AND BI-STABLE SYSTEMS FOR THE MITIGATION OF THE END-EFFECTOR COLLISIONS

This paper deals with the development of special end-effectors able to mitigate the effects of collisions on the robot and on the impacted objects. This aim is achieved by avoiding the direct mechanical coupling between the end-effector and the robot flange by means of hydraulic and mechanical systems. The mathematical model of an end-effector equipped with hydraulic chambers connected by an orifice is developed and integrated with the model of a robot with compliance in the approach direction. To make a comparison, the mathematical model of the bi-stable mechanical system is integrated with the same compliant robot. Numerical simulations of one dimensional collisions are carried out. Numerical results show that, if there is a rather long dead time between the impact and the reaction of the robot, the hydraulic system generates smaller forces than the mechanical system and causes smaller initial velocities of the impacted object. Conversely, if the dead time is short, the bi-stable system generates smaller initial velocities of the impacted object and, when the object is fixed, it generates smaller forces on the robot than the hydraulic system