A wrench-sensitive touch pad based on a parallel structure

Trabajo presentado al ICRA 2008 celebrado en Pasadena (USA) del 19 al 23 de mayo.Many different robotic in-parallel structures have been conceived as six-component force sensors. In general, they perform well for most applications but, when accuracy is a must, two main limitations arise. First, in most designs, the legs are connected to the base and the platform through ball-and-socket joints. Although the dry friction in each of these joints can be individually neglected, the integrated effect of twelve such elements becomes noticeable. Second, dynamical measurements might not be very accurate because the natural resonance frequency of the used structures is quite low even for relatively small dimensions. This dynamical response can be obviously modified with a proper mechanical design, but this increases the complexity of the sensor. This paper discusses the design and implementation of a touch pad based on a 6-axis force sensor and shows how the above limitations degrade its behavior. Moreover, it is shown how using a tensegrity structure both problems could be alleviated because ball-and- socket joints can be substituted by point contacts and the resonance frequency of the structure can be controlled by adjusting the static tensions of the tendons.This work was supported by projects: 'Analysis and motion planning of complex robotic systems' (4802), 'Plataforma torsométrica basada en estructuras de tensigridad' (3707), 'Estació de muntatge universal' (I-00907). This work has been partially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science through the I+D project DPI2007-60858, by the XARTAP network of the Catalan Government, and by the Spanish I3 project with reference 2006-5-01-077.Peer Reviewe

Design of Industrial Cold-Formed Steel Rack Upright Frames for Loads in Cross-Aisle Direction

This paper summarizes research on the cross-aisle stiffness and strength of industrial cold-formed steel rack upright frames for loads in cross-aisle direction. Tests were carried out at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain on joints as well as entire upright frames. A possible rather simple analysis procedure is developed and described

Industrial Cold-Formed Steel Rack Column Base Fixity and Strength

This paper summarizes the testing done at the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain and the possible use of the results in design for column base stiffness and strength. The test setup and procedure are adopted in the European rack design standards

pH-responsive self-assembly of amyloid fibrils for dual hydrolase-oxidase reactions

Altres ajuts: ICREA Academia 2015There is an increasing interest in synthetic systems that can execute bioinspired chemical reactions without requiring the complex structures that characterize enzymes in their components. The hierarchical self-assembly of peptides provides a means to create catalytic microenvironments. Ideally, as it occurs in enzymes, the catalytic activity of peptide nanostructures should be reversibly regulated. In a typical enzyme mimetic design, the peptide's self-assembling and catalytic activities are segregated into different regions of the sequence. Here, we aimed to design minimal peptides in which the self-assembly and function were all encoded in the same amino acids. Moreover, we wanted to endow the resulting one-component nanomaterial with divergent, chemically unrelated, catalytic activities, a property not observed in natural enzymes. We show that short peptides consisting only of histidine and tyrosine residues, arranged in a binary pattern, form biocompatible amyloid-like fibrils and hydrogels combining hydrolytic and electrocatalytic activities. The nanofibers' mesoscopic properties are controlled by pH, the transition between assembled active β-sheet fibrils, and disassembled inactive random coil species occurring in a physiologically relevant pH range. The structure of one of such amyloid-like fibrils, as derived from molecular dynamic simulations, provides insights on how they attain this combination of structural and catalytic properties

Intercultural communication between long-stay immigrants and Catalan Primary Care Nurses : a qualitative approach to rebalancing power

There is a gap between the preferences of immigrant patients and their experiences with intercultural communication. This study aims to explore the experiences and perspectives of long-stay immigrants on intercultural communication in encounters with primary care (PC) nurses. Participants were selected by purposive sampling at the Maresme Primary Care Center. A focus group and five in-depth interviews with long-stay immigrants from eight countries were carried out. Data collection was guided by a script previously validated by a group of experts. We conducted a qualitative analysis following Charmaz's approach, and data saturation was reached with 11 patients (one focus group and five interviews). Long-stay immigrants would like closer and more personalized communication exchanges with greater humanity, as well as polite and respectful manners as they perceive signs of an asymmetrical care relationship. Those who had negative communication experiences tried to justify some of the behaviors as a result of having free access to public health services. This is one of the few existing studies from the point of view of long-stay immigrants. Achieving effective intercultural communication requires a process of self-reflection, awareness-raising and commitment, both on a personal and institutional level, to eliminate the asymmetry in the nurse-patient relationship. Nurses should be trained in person-centered intercultural communication

Kinetics of humoral immune response over 17 months of COVID-19 pandemic in a large cohort of healthcare workers in Spain : the ProHEpiC-19 study

Understanding the immune response to the SARS-CoV-2 virus is critical for efficient monitoring and control strategies. The ProHEpic-19 cohort provides a fine-grained description of the kinetics of antibodies after SARS-CoV-2 infection with an exceptional resolution over 17 months. We established a cohort of 769 healthcare workers including healthy and infected with SARS-CoV-2 in northern Barcelona to determine the kinetics of the IgM against the nucleocapsid (N) and the IgG against the N and spike (S) of SARS-CoV-2 in infected healthcare workers. The study period was from 5 May 2020 to 11 November 2021.We used non-linear mixed models to investigate the kinetics of IgG and IgM measured at nine time points over 17 months from the date of diagnosis. The model included factors of time, gender, and disease severity (asymptomatic, mild-moderate, severe-critical) to assess their effects and their interactions. 474 of the 769 participants (61.6%) became infected with SARS-CoV-2. Significant effects of gender and disease severity were found for the levels of all three antibodies. Median IgM(N) levels were already below the positivity threshold in patients with asymptomatic and mild-moderate disease at day 270 after the diagnosis, while IgG(N and S) levels remained positive at least until days 450 and 270, respectively. Kinetic modelling showed a general rise in both IgM(N) and IgG(N) levels up to day 30, followed by a decay with a rate depending on disease severity. IgG(S) levels remained relatively constant from day 15 over time. IgM(N) and IgG(N, S) SARS-CoV-2 antibodies showed a heterogeneous kinetics over the 17 months. Only the IgG(S) showed a stable increase, and the levels and the kinetics of antibodies varied according to disease severity. The kinetics of IgM and IgG observed over a year also varied by clinical spectrum can be very useful for public health policies around vaccination criteria in adult population. Regional Ministry of Health of the Generalitat de Catalunya (Call COVID19-PoC SLT16_04; NCT04885478). The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12879-022-07696-6

Behandlung von Getriebesystemen in Getriebeberechungsprogrammen

Outgoin

Estudio de las competencias transculturales enfermeras a partir de las experiencias de usuarios inmigrantes y profesionales enfermeras

Introducción: La población inmigrante está expuesta a peores condiciones socioeconómicas y presenta mayor riesgo de problemas de salud y marginalidad. Esto obliga a planificar una atención que incluya diferentes culturas, creencias y valores. Las competencias culturales están muy valoradas entre los proveedores de salud, pero la investigación se centra en aspectos más cuantitativos y un abordaje más profesional. Debemos incluir a los actores, los usuarios inmigrantes y las profesionales de enfermería, en la organización del sistema sanitario para así recoger la variedad de perspectivas, experiencias y expectativas y llegar a alcanzar los estándares de calidad de los cuidados enfermeros. Objetivos: Conocer la visión del usuario inmigrante y la enfermera sobre la prestación de cuidados transculturales, si responde a las necesidades de salud y si es culturalmente sensible. Método: Estudio cualitativo de casos, basado en grupos focales y entrevistas semiestructuradas en profundidad a usuarios inmigrantes y profesionales de enfermería. Análisis del contenido partiendo de la codificación abierta, para posteriormente realizar la codificación axial. Resultados esperados: A partir de los temas emergentes que surjan de los datos recogidos, se espera identificar similitudes y diferencias en la percepción de competencias culturales, carencias en la prestación de cuidados transculturales enfermeros y puntos de mejora, y detectar si existen actitudes sesgadas o discriminatorias por parte de los profesionales. Esta información ayudaría a definir las competencias culturales enfermeras para mejorar el perfil competencial profesional, avanzar hacia una óptima atención transcultural y mejorar la calidad de los cuidados enfermeros

Behandlung von Getriebesystemen in Getriebeberechungsprogrammen

Outgoin