Path planning for active tensegrity structures

This paper presents a path planning method for actuated tensegrity structures with quasi-static motion. The valid configurations for such structures lay on an equilibrium manifold, which is implicitly defined by a set of kinematic and static constraints. The exploration of this manifold is difficult with standard methods due to the lack of a global parameterization. Thus, this paper proposes the use of techniques with roots in differential geometry to define an atlas, i.e., a set of coordinated local parameterizations of the equilibrium manifold. This atlas is exploited to define a rapidly-exploring random tree, which efficiently finds valid paths between configurations. However, these paths are typically long and jerky and, therefore, this paper also introduces a procedure to reduce their control effort. A variety of test cases are presented to empirically evaluate the proposed method. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

Multi-master ROS systems

This technical report introduces the concepts, problems and a possible solution for ROS multi-master systems, that is, systems build from two or more ROS networks, each with its own roscore node. In general this environment would correspond to multi-robot systems, either mobile platforms or manipulators. The ROS framework already provides a solution for such systems, multimaster_fkie, which is presented and briefly described in thisThe ROS framework already provides a solution for such systems, multimaster_fkie, which is presented and briefly described in this technical report, together with the network setup necessary to make it work properly. Two different configurations are discussed in this technical report, simple ROS networks with a single computer each, and more complex ROS networks with two or more computers each. In both cases, real examples are provided using robots available at IRI.Preprin

iCub platform: IIT workshop in Genova

This document outlines the most important concepts presented during a workshop about the iCub robot done at the Instituto Italiano di Technologia in Genova. Mechanical, electronic as well as rmware and software issues are presented, and the basic procedures to detect and solve the most common problems are described. The most important goal of this workshop was to get the necessary skills to perform the most basic maintenance of the robot without having to depend on the support from IIT. Also a brief introduction to the main issues of the control of the robot were provided.Preprin

Autonomous navigation framework for a car-like robot

This technical report describes the work done to develop a new navigation scheme for an autonomous car-like robot available at the Mobile Robotics Laboratory at IRI. To plan the general path the robot should follow (i.e. the global planner), a search based planner algorithm, with motion primitives which take into account the kinematic constraints of the robot, is used. To actually execute the path and avoid dynamic obstacles (i.e the local planner) a modification of the DWA algorithm is used, which takes into account the kinematic constraints of the ackermann configuration to generate and evaluate possible trajectories for the robot. The whole navigation scheme has been integrated into the ROS middleware navigation framework and tested on the real robot and also in a simulator.Preprin

Impact of changes in the WHO's 2019 update of DDDs on the measurement of adult hospital antibacterial consumption in Catalonia (Spain), 2008-18

In 2019 the WHO fully adopted new DDD values. The objective of this study is to analyse their impact on the measurement of consumption of antibacterials in hospitals participating in the Catalan Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship National Program (VINCat-PROA) in Catalonia (Spain) between 2008 and 2018. The anatomical therapeutic chemical/DDD system was used to monitor adult hospital antibacterial consumption expressed in DDD/100 bed-days. Consumption from 2008 to 2018 was calculated using both pre- and post-update DDD values. Differences were calculated as the percentage variation in DDD/100 bed-days and analysed with Student's t -test. Simple linear regressions were performed to evaluate the trends in adult antimicrobial consumption over the study period. The overall consumption according to post-update DDD values decreased by 12.2% (P < 0.001) compared with the pre-update DDD values. Penicillins (−19.6.%; P < 0.001) and carbapenems (−19.0%; P = 0.023) showed the greatest reduction, followed by cephalosporins (−7.7%; P = 0.021) and quinolone antibacterials (−7.7%; P = 0.017). ICU services showed the greatest overall reduction (−13.1%; P < 0.001). From 2008 to 2018 there was a statistically significant decrease in consumption of penicillins and quinolone antibacterials and a statistically significant increase in cephalosporin and carbapenem consumption with both pre- and post-update DDD values. There were no variations in the ranking of consumption between the pre- and post-update DDD values. The WHO's updates of DDDs have had a significant impact on the measurement of antibacterial consumption. In our region, they have corrected an overestimation of penicillin and carbapenem consumption amounting to 19%. It is essential to bear these findings in mind for an accurate assessment of temporal trends and benchmarking

High Quality Inkjet Printed‐Emissive Nanocrystalline Perovskite CsPbBr3 Layers for Color Conversion Layer and LEDs Applications

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have shown outstanding optical emissive properties and can be employed in several optoelectronics devices. In contrast with materials of well-established technologies, which are prone to degradation or require expensive processes, MHPs can be obtained by solution processing methods and increase stability. Inkjet printing is proposed as an industrial friendly technique to deposit MHPs. The inks have been developed from colloidal CsPbBr3 nanocrystals and printing procedures that allow the deposition of thin layers with intense green emission. High emissive printed layers are assured by carrying out thermal annealing in vacuum oven, which is demonstrated to promote compact layers with low roughness, corroborated by SEM and AFM. XRD measurements show CsPbBr3 crystalline layers with cubic symmetry and XPS provides insight into the stoichiometric composition and local bonding. Optical properties of inkjet-printed CsPbBr3 films have been analyzed by UV-vis absorbance and photoluminescence (PL), to extract the bandgap energy and photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY). CsPbBr3 printed layers emit at 524 nm with a narrow emission (FWHM ≈ 15 nm), exhibiting a PLQY up to 20%. These results enabled the large-scale fabrication by inkjet printing of CsPbBr3 color conversion layers (CCLs) and pave the way for flexible LEDs

Nuevos conceptos de tratamiento combinado : aplicación de D-cicloserina en los trastornos de ansiedad

Investigaciones anteriores, tanto en humanos como en roedores, han puesto de manifiesto que la D-Cicloserina (DCS), un agonista parcial del N-Metil-D-Aspartato, facilita el tratamiento en terapia de exposición (TE) en una serie de trastornos de ansiedad; entre ellos: fobia social, fobia específica, trastorno del pánico y trastorno obsesivo-compulsivo. La DCS es un potenciador de la psicoterapia, que actúa sobre los procesos y mecanismos neurales implicados en los procesos de aprendizaje asociativo. El tratamiento con DCS consigue un aumento en la velocidad del tratamiento y disminuye considerablemente el índice de recaídas. El objetivo de la presente revisión es hacer una aproximación a este innovador campo de investigaciónPrevious research in humans and rodents have shown that D-Cycloserine (DCS), a partial agonist of N-methyl-D-aspartate, facilitates exposure therapy (ET) in a number of anxiety disorders, including: social phobia, specific phobia, panic disorder and obsessive compulsive disorder. The DCS is an enhancer of psychotherapy, which acts on the processes and neural mechanisms involved in associative learning processes. DCS increases the speed of treatment and significantly reduces the relapse rate. The objective of this review is to make an approach to this innovative research fiel

Inkjet‐Printed p‐NiO/n‐ZnO Heterojunction Diodes for Photodetection Applications

Transparent Conducting Oxides (TCOs) are an enticing family of optoelectronic materials which have been proven to increase efficiency when incorporated into perovskite light emitting diode (PE-LED) and organic OLED architectures as transport layers. Solution-processed metal oxide inks have already been demonstrated, although there is still a need for high-quality inkjet-printable metal oxide inks with a thermal post-process below 200 °C. The set of inks in this work are adapted from low-boiling point colloidal suspensions of metal oxide nanoparticles synthesized via flame spray pyrolysis. High quality, pinhole- and wrinkle-free inkjet-printed layers are obtained at low temperatures through vacuum oven post process, as proven by scanning electron microscopy. The crystallinity of the layers is confirmed by X-ray diffraction, showing the expected hexagonal and cubic structures respectively for ZnO and NiO. The thin film layers reach over 70% (ZnO) and 90% (NiO) transparency in the visible spectrum. Their implementation in the inkjet-printed p-n diode shows excellent I-V rectifying behavior with an ON/OFF ratio of two orders of magnitude at ±3 V and a forward threshold voltage of 2 V. Furthermore, the device exhibits an increase in photocurrent around four orders of magnitude when illuminated under a 1-sun solar simulator

Impact of changes in the WHO's 2019 update of DDDs on the measurement of adult hospital antibacterial consumption in Catalonia, 2008-18

Objectives: in 2019 the WHO fully adopted new DDD values. The objective of this study is to analyse their impact on the measurement of consumption of antibacterials in hospitals participating in the Catalan Infection Control and Antimicrobial Stewardship National Program (VINCat-PROA) in Catalonia (Spain) between 2008 and 2018. Methods: the anatomical therapeutic chemical/DDD system was used to monitor adult hospital antibacterial consumption expressed in DDD/100 bed-days. Consumption from 2008 to 2018 was calculated using both pre- and post-update DDD values. Differences were calculated as the percentage variation in DDD/100 bed-days and analysed with Student's t-test. Simple linear regressions were performed to evaluate the trends in adult antimicrobial consumption over the study period. Results: the overall consumption according to post-update DDD values decreased by 12.2% (P < 0.001) compared with the pre-update DDD values. Penicillins (−19.6.%; P < 0.001) and carbapenems (−19.0%; P = 0.023) showed the greatest reduction, followed by cephalosporins (−7.7%; P = 0.021) and quinolone antibacterials (−7.7%; P = 0.017). ICU services showed the greatest overall reduction (−13.1%; P < 0.001). From 2008 to 2018 there was a statistically significant decrease in consumption of penicillins and quinolone antibacterials and a statistically significant increase in cephalosporin and carbapenem consumption with both pre- and post-update DDD values. There were no variations in the ranking of consumption between the pre- and post-update DDD values. Conclusions: the WHO's updates of DDDs have had a significant impact on the measurement of antibacterial consumption. In our region, they have corrected an overestimation of penicillin and carbapenem consumption amounting to 19%. It is essential to bear these findings in mind for an accurate assessment of temporal trends and benchmarking

Light-activated electroforming in ITO/ZnO/p-Si resistive switching devices

We report on light-activated electroforming of ZnO/p-Si heterojunction memristors with transparent indium tin oxide as the top electrode. Light-generated electron-hole pairs in the p-type substrate are separated by the external electric field and electrons are injected into the active ZnO layer. The additional application of voltage pulses allows achieving different resistance states that end up in the realization of the low resistance state (LRS). This process requires much less voltage compared to dark conditions, thus avoiding undesired current overshoots and achieving a self-compliant device. The transport mechanisms governing each resistance state are studied and discussed. An evolution from an electrode-limited to a space charge-limited transport is observed along the electroforming process before reaching the LRS, which is ascribed to the progressive formation of conductive paths that consequently induce the growth of conductive nanofilaments through the ZnO layer. This work was financially supported by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Project Nos. TEC2012-38540-C02-01 and TEC2016-76849-C2-1-R). O.B. also acknowledges the subprogram "Ayudas para Contratos Predoctorales para la Formación de-Doctores" from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness for economical support. J.L.F. acknowledges the subprogram "Ayudas para la Formación de Profesorado Universitario" (No. FPU16/06257) from the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sports for economical support. X.P., C.L., and C.G. are grateful to C. Frilay for his expertise in the maintenance of the sputtering setup used for the growth of the ZnO films