Evaluating a human-robot interface for exploration missions

The research reported in this paper concerns the design, implementation, and experimental evaluation of a Human-Robot Interface for stationary remote operators, implemented for a PC computer. The GUI design and functionality is described. An Autonomy Management Model has been implemented and explained. We have conducted user evaluation, making two set of experiments, that will be described and the resulting data analyzed. The conclusions give an insight on the most important usability concerns, regarding the operator situational awareness. The scalability of the interface is also experimentally studied

Violencia y legitimidad: las revoluciones entre 1827 y 1841

This article studies the relationship between political violence and liberal principles in Peru during the first decades of Republican government, 1827-1845. The logic of behavior of caudillos was immersed in a discourse of salvation of the Republic from corruption. This was the end in founding a stable government that looked over the national interest. In this way, the caudillos did not expect to build a de facto administration. They had as a goal to legitimize their administration through elections after a coup d'etat. In sum, this article analyzes the logic of behavior of the caudillos, and does not pretend to examine internal motives nor regional or class conflicts in each revolution.El presente artículo estudia la relación entre la violencia política y los principios liberales en el Perú durante las primeras décadas de la República, 1827-1845. La lógica del comportamiento de los caudillos estaba inmersa en un discurso de salvación de la República de la corrupción. El ideal era fundar un gobierno estable que velara por los intereses de la nación. De este modo, los caudillos no pretendían establecer gobiernos de facto; sino, más bien, tenían como meta legitimarse a través de las elecciones post-golpe de Estado. En conclusión, el artículo analiza la lógica de comportamiento de los caudillos, y no pretende examinar los motivos internos de cada revolución ni tampoco los conflictos regionales o de clase

Nanocrystalline glass-like carbon thin films may be an useful tool in nerve cells regeneration

Abstract en el libro de Abstract de la International Conference, p. 99The interest in carbon nanomaterials with high transparency and electrical conductivity has grown within the last decade in view of a wide variety of applications, including biocompatible sensors, diagnostic devices and bioelectronic implants. The aim of this work is to test the biocompatibility of particular nanometer-thin nanocrystalline glass-like carbon films (NGLC), a disordered structure of graphene flakes joined by carbon matrixUniversidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech. We thank Prof. Arenas, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden, for SN4741 cell line. R.G.V. gratefully acknowledges Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for funding through a Ramon y Cajal fellowship

Two-loop dimensional reduction and effective potential without temperature expansions

In many extensions of the Standard Model, finite temperature computations are complicated by a hierarchy of zero temperature mass scales, in addition to the usual thermal mass scales. We extend the standard thermal resummations to such a situation, and discuss the 2-loop computations of the Higgs effective potential, and an effective 3d field theory for the electroweak phase transition, without carrying out high or low temperature expansions for the heavy masses. We also estimate the accuracy of the temperature expansions previously used for the MSSM electroweak phase transition in the presence of a heavy left-handed stop. We find that the low temperature limit of dealing with the left-handed stop is accurate up to surprisingly high temperatures.Comment: 20 pages; small clarifications added; to appear in Nucl.Phys.

Mixing Effects in the Finite-Temperature Effective Potential of the MSSM with a Light Stop

We incorporate the effects of mixing arising from the trilinear terms in the MSSM potential to the effective three dimensional theory for the MSSM at high temperature in the limit of large $m_{A}$. There are relevant one-loop effects that modify the 3D parameters of the effective theory. We calculate the two-loop effective potential of the 3D theory for the Higgs and the right handed stop to analyse the possible phase transitions and to determine the precise region in the $m_{h}$-$m_{\tilde{t}_{2}}$ plane for which the sphaleron constraint for preservation of the baryon asymmetry is satisfied. There is an upper bound on the value of the mixing parameter coming from stop searches. We also compare with previous results obtained using 4D calculations of the effective potential for the regime of large $m_{Q}$. A two-stage phase transition persists for a small range of values of $m_{\tilde{t}_{2}}$ for given values of the mixing parameter and $\tan\beta$. This can further constrain the allowed region of parameter space. Electroweak baryogenesis requires a value of m_{\tilde{t}_{2}}\lsi 170 and m_{h} \lsi 105 GeV for $m_{Q}=300$ GeV.Comment: 41 pages, 8 figure

Caracterización de mieles de obtención artesanal y comerciales producidas en Galicia (NO de España) a partir de su espectro polínico y contenido proteico

An analysis was made of 49 honeys produced in NW of Spain (Ourense-Galicia), 37 of homemade production and 12 commercialized with quality label “Mel de Galicia” (Galician Honey). Its flower origin was determinate by the method of percentage pollen analysis and its protein content by Bradford method. They resulted to be 9 chestnut tree (Castanea sativa) and 6 bramble (Rubus ulmifolius-t.) unifloral, one Cytisus scoparius- t. unifloral and the other honeys was multifloral with predominance of chestnut (Castanea sativa), bramble (Rubus ulmifolius-t.), shrubland (Erica sp.) with gorse (Cytisus scoparius–t.) or heather. It was found 9 homemade honeys belonged to the Maurizio’s Class I, 9 to the Class II, 9 to the Class III, 7 to the Class IV and 3 belong to the Class V. Among the commercial honeys, 4 belong to the Class IV and 8 to the Class V. The value of protein in the honeys varied from 0.8 to 5.2 mg prot./g honey. The average was 1.95mg prot./g honey for homemade honeys, and 3.1 mg prot./g honey for commercial ones. This wide variation resulted as homemade like commercial honeys, and in this last it seem even to be higher.Se han estudiado 49 mieles producidas en el NO de España (Ourense-Galicia), 37 de producción artesanal y 12 comercializadas con etiqueta de calidad “Mel de Galicia”. Se determinó su origen floral, mediante el método de análisis polínico porcentual, y su contenido proteico, mediante el método de Bradford. En cuanto a su origen floral, han resultado ser 9 monoflorales de Castanea sativa, 6 de Rubus ulmifolius-t., una monofloral de Cytisus scoparius-t. y las demás milflores con predominancia de castaño (Castanea sativa), zarza (Rubus ulmifolius-t.), xesta-tojo (Cytisus scoparius-t.) o brezo (Erica sp.). Por su riqueza polínica, se han encontrado, en las mieles artesanales, 9, de clase de Maurizio I; 9, de Clase II; 9, de Clase III; 7, de Clase IV y 3, de Clase V. En las comerciales, 4, de Clase IV y 8, de Clase V. El contenido en proteína de las mieles varió desde 0,8 mg prot./g miel a 5,2 mg prot./g miel. Los valores medios han sido de 1,95, para las de origen artesanal y 3,1, para las comerciales

Computation of the optimal relative pose between overlapping grid maps through discrepancy minimization

Grid maps are a common environment representation in mobile robotics. Many Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) solutions divide the global map into submaps, forming some kind of graph or tree to represent the structure of the environment, while the metric details are captured in the submaps. This work presents a novel algorithm that is able to compute a physically feasible relative pose between two overlapping grid maps. Our algorithm can be used for correspondence search (data association), but also for integrating negative information in a unified way. This paper proposes a discrepancy measure between two overlapping grid maps and its application in a quasi Newton optimization algorithm, with the hypothesis that minimizing such discrepancy could provide useful information for SLAM. Experimental evidence is provided showing the high potential of the algorithm

Self-reported visual conditions and falls in institutionalized elderly

OBJETIVO: Avaliar as condições visuais autorrelatadas por idosos institucionalizados e sua relação com acidentes por quedas. MÉTODOS: Estudo prospectivo em que foram entrevistados 59 idosos residentes em instituições de longa permanência para idosos, em Goiânia, GO, entre 2005 e 2007. Foram realizados dois inquéritos com intervalo de dois anos para realização das avaliações propostas. As condições visuais no primeiro inquérito e o relato de quedas no seguimento foram autorrelatadas. Os idosos foram classificados segundo a presença de déficit visual e comparados quanto à ocorrência de queda com o teste Exato de Fisher. RESULTADOS: Déficit visual foi relatado por 48 (81,4%) dos idosos e os acidentes por quedas atingiram 32 (54,2%) dos mesmos, sendo estes mais prevalentes entre idosos com déficit visual. Após o primeiro inquérito, no seguimento de dois anos, não foi encontrada diferença estatisticamente significativa (p=0,171) entre a variável déficit visual autorrelatado e quedas. CONCLUSÃO: Os dados encontrados sinalizam a necessidade de melhor investigação clínica oftalmológica dos idosos. O diagnóstico precoce de comprometimentos visuais e/ou a correção dos mesmos pode beneficiar os idosos e evitar prejuízos funcionais futuros advindos destes e de consequências como as quedas. _________________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE: To evaluate the visual conditions self-reported by institutionalized elderly and their relation to accidental falls. METHODS: Prospective study in which we interviewed 59 elderly residents of long-stay institutions for elderly in Goiânia, between 2005 and 2007. Two surveys were conducted with an interval of two years to perform the assessments proposed. The visual conditions in the first survey and the report of falls in the wake were self-reported. The elderly were classified according to the presence of visual impairment and compared the occurrence of fall with the Fisher exact test. RESULTS: Visual deficit was reported by 48 (81.4%) of the elderly and accidents from falls reached 32 (54.2%) of them; which were more prevalent among older adults with visual impairment. After the first inquiry, in the following two years, found no statistically significant difference (p = 0.171) between the variable self-reported visual impairment and falls. CONCLUSION: The findings indicate the need for better research ophthalmology clinic for the elderly. Early diagnosis of visual impairment and / or correct it can benefit the elderly and to avoid future functional impairment arising from these and consequences such as falls

An Application of Cooperative Game Theory to Distributed Control

18th World CongressThe International Federation of Automatic ControlMilano (Italy) August 28 - September 2, 2011In this paper we propose to study the underlying properties of a given distributed control scheme in which a set of agents switch between different communication strategies that define which network links are used in order to regulate to the origin a set of unconstrained linear systems. The problems of how to decide the time-varying communication strategy, share the benefits/costs and detect which are the most critical links in the network are solved using tools from game theory. The proposed scheme is demonstrated through a simulation example