Vacas Felices: Una propuesta de packaging sostenible

En esta investigación se realiza un estudio de campo con la finalidad de proponer envases sostenibles y funcionales que contribuyan con la necesidad de los usuarios de la bioferia “Mercado Saludable de La Molina”. Centrando el estudio de la bioferia “Mercado Saludable de La Molina”, una de sus marcas más importantes es “Vacas Felices”, empresa que se dedica a la producción de lácteos orgánicos y saludables, beneficiando así a las familias productoras y consumidoras de estos productos. Se observa una problemática de traslado y protección de las botellas de leche de un litro por parte de sus usuarios, es por eso que se opta por la creación de un packaging que facilite la experiencia de compra de los clientes en Vacas Felices. Es por eso que se emplean diversos métodos de investigación, como la metodología del Doble Diamante, entrevistas directas con el usuario de testeo y a la encargada de ventas de Vacas Felices. De esta manera se pudo proceder a un análisis de la información, y se encontró una problemática en común para los usuarios, transporte y seguridad. A partir de estas dificultades se procedió a la elaboración del prototipo que responda a las necesidades de los clientes y la empresa Vacas Felices. Finalmente, se implementó el producto, demostrando que esta propuesta de packaging sostenible respondía a las necesidades de la empresa y sus clientes, logrando así un transporte óptimo y seguro de las botellas de leche de Vacas Felices.This research aims to carry out a field study aiming to propose sustainable and functional packages that satisfy the users' needs for consuming the products offered at the "Mercado Saludable de La Molina". Focusing the study in this biofair, one of its most important brands is "Vacas Felices", a brand dedicated to the production of organic and healthy dairy products, benefiting the producers and consumers’ families of these products. An identified problem is the protection and transportation of 1-liter milk bottles by their consumers, that is why we choose to create a packaging that facilitates the consumers’ shopping experience at “Vacas Felices”. For this reason, various methods are applied, such as the Double Diamond methodology, face-to-face interviews with participants in the testing and validation and with the sales manager of “Vacas Felices”, with the aim to evaluate the best alternatives to satisfy the needs of the “Vacas Felices” users. Thus, we could proceed to analyze the information, finding a common problem perceived by users: transportation and safety. Based on these difficulties, the prototype was developed, achieving, optimal, and safe transport of “Vacas Felices” milk bottles. It should be noted that the proposal also fulfills a contribution to environment care, being socially, environmentally and economically adequate, while responding to the needs of the clients, staff and owners of “Vacas Felices”

Rhythmic neural activity is comodulated with short-term gait modifications during first-time use of a dummy prosthesis:a pilot study

BACKGROUND: After transfemoral amputation, many hours of practice are needed to re-learn walking with a prosthesis. The long adaptation process that consolidates a novel gait pattern seems to depend on cerebellar function for reinforcement of specific gait modifications, but the precise, step-by-step gait modifications (e.g., foot placement) most likely rely on top-down commands from the brainstem and cerebral cortex. The aim of this study was to identify, in able-bodied individuals, the specific modulations of cortical rhythms that accompany short-term gait modifications during first-time use of a dummy prosthesis. METHODS: Fourteen naïve participants walked on a treadmill without (one block, 4 min) and with a dummy prosthesis (three blocks, 3 × 4 min), while ground reaction forces and 32-channel EEG were recorded. Gait cycle duration, stance phase duration, step width, maximal ground reaction force and, ground reaction force trace over time were measured to identify gait modifications. Independent component analysis of EEG data isolated brain-related activity from distinct anatomical sources. The source-level data were segmented into gait cycles and analyzed in the time-frequency domain to reveal relative enhancement or suppression of intrinsic cortical oscillations. Differences between walking conditions were evaluated with one-way ANOVA and post-hoc testing (α = 0.05). RESULTS: Immediate modifications occurred in the gait parameters when participants were introduced to the dummy prosthesis. Except for gait cycle duration, these modifications remained throughout the duration of the experimental session. Power modulations of the theta, mu, beta, and gamma rhythms, of sources presumably from the fronto-central and the parietal cortices, were found across the experimental session. Significant power modulations of the theta, beta, and gamma rhythms within the gait cycle were predominately found around the heel strike of both feet and the swing phase of the right (prosthetic) leg. CONCLUSIONS: The modulations of cortical activity could be related to whole-body coordination, including the swing phase and placing of the prosthesis, and the bodyweight transfer between legs and arms. Reduced power modulation of the gamma rhythm within the experimental session may indicate initial motor memories being formed. Better understanding of the sensorimotor processes behind gait modifications may inform the development of neurofeedback strategies to assist gait rehabilitation

Brisk heart rate and EEG changes during execution and withholding of cue-paced foot motor imagery

Cue-paced motor imagery (MI) is a frequently used mental strategy to realize a Brain-Computer Interface (BCI). Recently it has been reported that two MI tasks can be separated with a high accuracy within the first second after cue presentation onset. To investigate this phenomenon in detail we studied the dynamics of motor cortex beta oscillations in EEG and the changes in heart rate (HR) during visual cue-paced foot MI using a go (execution of imagery) vs. nogo (withholding of imagery) paradigm in 16 healthy subjects. Both execution and withholding of MI resulted in a brisk centrally localized beta event-related desynchronization (ERD) with a maximum at ~400 ms and a concomitant HR deceleration. We found that response patterns within the first second after stimulation differed between conditions. The ERD was significantly larger in go as compared to nogo. In contrast the HR deceleration was somewhat smaller and followed by an acceleration in go as compared to nogo. These findings suggest that the early beta ERD reflects visually induced preparatory activity in motor cortex networks. Both the early beta ERD and the HR deceleration are the result of automatic operating processes that are likely part of the orienting reflex (OR). Of interest, however, is that the preparatory cortical activity is strengthened and the HR modulated already within the first second after stimulation during the execution of MI. The subtraction of the HR time course of the nogo from the go condition revealed a slight HR acceleration in the first seconds most likely due to the increased mental effort associated with the imagery process

Nanocomposite Bi/TiO2 multilayer thin flms deposited by a crossed beam laser ablation confguration

Articulo relacionado con la caracterizacion de materialesA crossed beam pulsed laser deposition confguration was used to prepare nanocomposites Bi/TiO2 thin flms on two different substrates. The multilayered system was formed by depositing TiO2 and Bi layers alternately. In order to embed the Bi nanostructures in TiO2, the subsequent TiO2 layers were synthesized using a constant number of laser pulses (3000) corresponding to a thickness of approximately 21 nm. The Bi nanostructures were deposited on the TiO2 layers alternately by irradiating the Bi target with 30, 100, 200, and 300 laser pulses. In this way, the Bi nanostructures were embedded inside the TiO2 matrix. A total of 8 samples with bismuth and one reference, with TiO2 only, were produced. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) showed that nearly spherical nanoparticles (NPs) were obtained at lower number of pulses, whereas at 300 pulses a quasi-percolated nanostructured Bi flm was obtained. X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) revealed that the TiO2 layers were not afected due to the bismuth presence. Raman Spectroscopy showed vibrational features characteristic of the rutile phase for the titania layer. The Raman spectrum of the multilayer prepared using 300 laser pulses on the bismuth, suggests that the Bi layer is formed by a mixture of metallic Bi, and α-Bi2O3. The Ultraviolet–Visible Spectroscopy reveals that no substantial changes are presented in the transmittance spectra indicating similar optical properties of the diferent deposits. Finally, the photoluminescence emission spectra indicate that the substrate position in the deposition chamber afects the electronic structure of the material.A. Martínez-Chávez thanks CONACyT for the scholarship granted (No. 815785). K. Esquivel and L. Escobar thank the Engineering Faculty-UAQ for the fnancial support granted through the Attention to national problems fund and the FONDEC-UAQ-2021. We greatly appreciate the collaboration of R. Basurto in performing the XPS measurements

The Hybrid BCI

Nowadays, everybody knows what a hybrid car is. A hybrid car normally has two engines to enhance energy efficiency and reduce CO2 output. Similarly, a hybrid brain-computer interface (BCI) is composed of two BCIs, or at least one BCI and another system. A hybrid BCI, like any BCI, must fulfill the following four criteria: (i) the device must rely on signals recorded directly from the brain; (ii) there must be at least one recordable brain signal that the user can intentionally modulate to effect goal-directed behaviour; (iii) real time processing; and (iv) the user must obtain feedback. This paper introduces hybrid BCIs that have already been published or are in development. We also introduce concepts for future work. We describe BCIs that classify two EEG patterns: one is the event-related (de)synchronisation (ERD, ERS) of sensorimotor rhythms, and the other is the steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP). Hybrid BCIs can either process their inputs simultaneously, or operate two systems sequentially, where the first system can act as a “brain switch”. For example, we describe a hybrid BCI that simultaneously combines ERD and SSVEP BCIs. We also describe a sequential hybrid BCI, in which subjects could use a brain switch to control an SSVEP-based hand orthosis. Subjects who used this hybrid BCI exhibited about half the false positives encountered while using the SSVEP BCI alone. A brain switch can also rely on hemodynamic changes measured through near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). Hybrid BCIs can also use one brain signal and a different type of input. This additional input can be an electrophysiological signal such as the heart rate, or a signal from an external device such as an eye tracking system