Smart Footwear Insole for Recognition of Foot Pronation and Supination Using Neural Networks

Abnormal foot postures during gait are common sources of pain and pathologies of the lower limbs. Measurements of foot plantar pressures in both dynamic and static conditions can detect these abnormal foot postures and prevent possible pathologies. In this work, a plantar pressure measurement system is developed to identify areas with higher or lower pressure load. This system is composed of an embedded system placed in the insole and a user application. The instrumented insole consists of a low-power microcontroller, seven pressure sensors and a low-energy bluetooth module. The user application receives and shows the insole pressure information in real-time and, finally, provides information about the foot posture. In order to identify the different pressure states and obtain the final information of the study with greater accuracy, a Deep Learning neural network system has been integrated into the user application. The neural network can be trained using a stored dataset in order to obtain the classification results in real-time. Results prove that this system provides an accuracy over 90% using a training dataset of 3000+ steps from 6 different users.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad TEC2016-77785-

Designing a wearable device for step analyzing

During the locomotion, the foot is a contact surface and a source of interaction with the external environment. Because of this, its health is important to monitor in order to precociously diagnose its problems. General or specific pathologies can change its physiological function. The measurements of pressure in both dynamic and static conditions can avoid, and even prevent, a worsening of a foot or inferior limb lesion. Plantar pressure exams are then essential to create personalized soles. Foot plantar pressure is the pressure field that acts between the foot and the support surface during everyday locomotive activities. In this work, a plantar pressure measurement system was developed to identify areas with higher or lower pressure load to allow the creation of a personalized sole. The designed device has been planned to be attached to the patient ankle allowing maximum comfort during the normal gait. A series of resistive sensors is attached to the shoe sole, which is then connected to a device placed around the ankle, measures the pressure variations in static condition or during the gait cycle. The measured data are transmitted via Bluetooth to the correlated software. The software of the measurement system shows the pressure in each small sensor element of the sole in real time and saves the data in a file

Multi-agent and embedded system technologies applied to improve the management of power systems

This article explores a number of improvements made on Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems which allow them to be successfully used for automated surveillance. Even telecontrol operators who have limited experience with computers were able to employ the system without any difficulties. Other advances made by taking advantage of the strongest features of embedded and multi-agent system technologies are also featured in this article. These developments have been tested in a true industrial environment. Positive results and feedback have been provided by the tests

Simulation and Implementation of a Neural Network in a Multiagent System

This paper presents the simulation and the implementation of a model of a neural network applied to a multiagent system by using the Neuroph framework. This tool enables several tests to be carried out and verify which structure is the best structure of our neural network for a specific application. In our case, we simulated the neural network for a sun-tracking control system in a solar farm. Initial implementation shows good results in performance, thereby providing an alternative to traditional solar-tracking systems.Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-03862 (CARISMA

Multiagent System powered by Neural Network for positioning control of solar panels: An optimization for sun tracking systems

This paper presents a model of neural network for position control of solar panels in multiagent-based control systems. This neural network is integrated within agents in order to optimize and predict the best positioning of solar panels depending on the position of the sun and other variables. The agents in this system can cooperate and coordinate to achieve a sun tracking system optimized, simple and adaptive.Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-03862 (CARISMA

Multiple intelligences in a MultiAgent System applied to telecontrol

This paper presents a control system, based on artificial intelligence technologies, that implements multiple intelligences. This system aims to support and improve automatic telecontrol of solar power plants, by either automatically triggering actuators or dynamically giving recommendations to human operators. For this purpose, the development of a MultiAgent System is combined with a variety of inference systems, such as Expert Systems, Neural Networks, and Bayesian Networks. This diversity of intelligent technologies is shown to result in an efficient way to mimic the reasoning process in human operators.Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-0386

Architecture for Multiagent-Based Control Systems

This paper presents a multiagent architecture that covers the new requirements for the new control systems such as the distribution and decentralisation of system elements, the definition of communications between these elements, the fast adaptation in the control and organizational changes. The agents in this architecture can cooperate and coordinate to achieve a global goal, encapsulate the hardware interfaces and make the control system easily adapt to different requirements through configuration. Finally, the proposed architecture is applied to a control system of a solar power plant, obtaining a preliminary system that achieve the goals of simplicity, scalability, flexibility and optimization of communications system.Junta de Andalucía P08-TIC-0386

PeMMAS: A Tool for Studying the Performance of Multiagent Systems Developed in JADE

This paper describes the performance measurement for multiagent systems (PeMMAS) tool, a system designed to study and measure the performance of any multiagent system (MAS) de-veloped in JADE. The tool itself is another MAS which is deployed and coexists alongside the one being studied. This characteristic allows us to adapt PeMMAS to any scenario in which MAS de-ployment in JADE is used. PeMMAS extracts information from the target MAS regarding the use of system resources, the flight time for comprehensive messages according to agent type, as well as the processing time for actions. After processing this information, PeMMAS sends a report to the final user for subsequent analysis

Aprendizaje basado en juegos online para la mejora de la adquisición de competencias en Patología Médica Bucal

Estamos viviendo una situación complicada debido a la pandemia por el COVID-19. Durante el presente curso académico parte de nuestras asignaturas han pasado de una docencia presencial a una docencia online, esto ha sucedido en la asignatura Patología Médica Bucal del grado en Odontología. Este paso de la presencialidad a la docencia online requiere de nuevas medidas de motivación para aumentar la adquisición de conocimientos y mantener el aprendizaje activo. El objetivo de este proyecto ha sido aplicar diferentes juegos online para mejorar el aprendizaje en Patología Médica Bucal y la transferencia de conocimiento entre alumnos y profesores

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition)

In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. For example, a key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process versus those that measure fl ux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process including the amount and rate of cargo sequestered and degraded). In particular, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation must be differentiated from stimuli that increase autophagic activity, defi ned as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (inmost higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium ) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the fi eld understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. It is worth emphasizing here that lysosomal digestion is a stage of autophagy and evaluating its competence is a crucial part of the evaluation of autophagic flux, or complete autophagy. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. Along these lines, because of the potential for pleiotropic effects due to blocking autophagy through genetic manipulation it is imperative to delete or knock down more than one autophagy-related gene. In addition, some individual Atg proteins, or groups of proteins, are involved in other cellular pathways so not all Atg proteins can be used as a specific marker for an autophagic process. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field