B2B2: LiDAR 2D Mapping Rover

Autonomous machines are becoming more popular and useful with even self-driving cars being a thing of the present. Most of these machines navigate using cameras and LiDAR which does not detect glass, therefore the machines give misleading results when objects and obstacles are transparent to the wavelengths of the light used. This is problematic in modern building floor plans with glass walls. A solution is to build a ROS system that fuses ultrasonic sensors with LiDAR sensors in order for a robot to navigate in a building that has glass walls. Using both sensors, the final product is a robot that creates a 2D map using Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) as well as other pertinent Robotics Operating Systems (ROS) packages. This map enables any mobile robot to pathplan from point A to B on the now created 2D floor plan that incorporates glass and non-glass obstacles. This saves time and energy when compared to a robot that moves from point A to B that has to continuously change paths in the presence of obstacles

Observing Rapport-Based Interpersonal Techniques to Gather Information from Victims

The observing rapport-based interpersonal techniques (ORBIT) behavioral coding manual (Alison, Alison, Noone, Eltnib, & Christiansen, 2013) was used to code 103 hr of investigative interviews with sexual offense victims—a sample of 86 single-victim cases conducted by 26 police interviewers in South Korea. In all cases, there was a subsequent conviction. ORBIT is comprised of two key psychological approaches previously used most often in counseling but applied here to law enforcement. These are (a) humanistic approaches that are honest, empathic and nonjudgmental and (b) an interpersonal behavior circle of dyadic interaction between interviewer and victim based on power-submission and conflict-cooperation dimensions, which can be managed in a prosocial (adaptive) or antisocial (maladaptive) way by the interviewer. Information/evidence yield was coded as a dependent variable. Coding was conducted every 15 min, representing 316 coding units. Results showed that (a) humanistic approaches positively influence adaptive interactions between interviewer and victim while simultaneously reducing maladaptive ones, the consequence of which is an increase in yield; (b) interviewer adaptive behaviors directly increase victim adaptive behavior (with the same effect for maladaptive behavior); and (c) victim adaptive behavior is positively associated with interview yield, and victim maladaptive behavior is negatively associated with it. These results suggest that interviews conducted in a humanistic-consistent fashion strongly positively influence adaptive victim behavior, which, in turn, increases interview yield

Syndrome d'immobilisation et conséquences fonctionnelles chez le patient âgé en soins aigus: moyens et interventions à dispositions de l'infirmière : revue de littérature étoffée

Cette revue de littérature étoffée a pour but de définir les moyens et les interventions à disposition de l’infirmière1 travaillant dans un milieu de soins aigus afin de prévenir et de limiter les conséquences fonctionnelles engendrées par un syndrome d’immobilisation chez les patients âgés

Effects of Er: YAG laser on surface morphology of dental restorative materials

The aims of this study were to evaluate the effects of Er:YAG laser on surface morphology of dental restorative materials namely glass ionomer cement, composite resin, polyacid-modified composite resin, resin-modified glass ionomer cement and unfilled resin, and to ascertain the ablation threshold of these materials. Crater diameters, crater depths and crater volumes of the ablated sites were measured to assess the ablation characteristics of different restorative materials. The surface morphology changes varied from nil effect, to ablation, fusion, combustion, and various combinations of these. The ablation threshold of all materials was 40 mJ except Delton (60 mJ)

Quelle est l'activité du TRM en protonthérapie ?: observation et analyse de la pratique au Centre de Proton Thérapie de l'Institut Paul Scherrer à Villigen : travail de Bachelor

BUT : La présente étude cherche à connaître l’activité des techniciens en radiologie médicale en protonthérapie et à mettre en lumière ses différences par rapport à la radiothérapie conventionnelle. La radiothérapie représente un domaine d’activité important pour le TRM. Son rôle et ses responsabilités ont considérablement évolué au cours de ces dix dernières années. Exerçant un métier en constante mutation, le technicien devra, à l’avenir, s’adapter continuellement à la course aux radiothérapies innovantes, galvanisées par une croissance effrénée des avancées technologiques. La protonthérapie est la forme la plus sophistiquée de la radiothérapie. A ce titre, elle constitue une arme aboutie et précise pour traiter certains cancers. Cette technique de pointe demeure néanmoins peu répandue puisque, en Suisse, seul un centre en est équipé, à savoir Le Centre de Proton Thérapie de l’Institut Paul Scherrer. METHODOLOGIE : Pour décrire l’activité du TRM en protonthérapie et dresser un portrait comparatif par rapport à la radiothérapie photonique, plusieurs méthodes qualitatives de recueil de données ont été retenues. L’observation directe et les entretiens semi-directifs ont été jugés probants. Les entretiens, en particulier, permettent, par l’interrogation du sujet, de se centrer sur son discours. L’observation directe, elle, en plus d’être conduite sur le terrain où se déroulent les activités étudiées, autorise un accès instantané aux actions telles qu’effectivement réalisées ainsi qu’aux gestes professionnels tels que concrètement effectués. RESULTATS : Au vu des éléments recueillis et analysés, l’activité du TRM en protonthérapie semble être relativement identique à celle pratiquée en radiothérapie traditionnelle. Ceci dit, par l’intermédiaire de nos questionnements, de nos entretiens et de nos observations, il a tout de même été possible d’établir un inventaire composé d’une multitude de détails et de nuances rendant compte des spécificités et des particularités de cette activité. CONCLUSION : Actuellement, les thérapies modernes traitant le cancer englobent plusieurs méthodes de traitement, dont la plus répandue est la chirurgie suivie de l’irradiation. Fors l’aspect purement physique, il s’est révélé particulièrement instructif et opportun de documenter ce domaine ultraspécialisé de l’irradiation des tumeurs, dans la mesure où aucune étude n’avait, jusqu’à ce jour, étudié la place centrale occupée par le TRM au sein de ce processus thérapeutique

Use of superabsorbent polymers to mitigate autogenous shrinkage in ultra-high performance concrete

Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) with low w/c-ratio is very prone to the formation of cracks due to autogenous shrinkage. These cracks can lead to a decreased durability of the concrete, resulting in higher maintenance and/or repair costs in the future. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) can be added to cementitious materials to provide internal curing and as a result reduce or even mitigate this autogenous shrinkage. In this paper, two different types of SAPs were added to cement paste to see their influence on mitigating autogenous shrinkage. One SAP is a commercially available SAP whereas the other SAP is especially developed within the framework of the LORCENIS project by the company ChemStream, with the aim to mitigate autogenous shrinkage and induce self-healing of cracks. The SAPs from ChemStream were based on a copolymerization of sodium vinyl sulfonate (SVS) with 2-acryloylamino-2-methyl-propane-1-sulfonate (NaAMPS) and contained 1.0 mol% N,N’-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) with respect to the monomer as cross-linker. The commercial SAP from BASF was based on poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid). In case SAPs were used, an additional fixed amount of water was added to mitigate autogenous shrinkage. The amount of SAPs used was determined based on their swelling capacity in cement filtrate and in order to obtain the same workability as the reference mixture. The amount of SAPs needed was in the range of 0.2-0.26 m% of the cement weight. To see whether the size of the SAPs plays a role in the efficiency of mitigating autogenous shrinkage, two average particle sizes, namely 40 and 100 µm, were tested. With the used amount of SAPs, a reduction or even complete counteraction of autogenous shrinkage was observed for the cement pastes

An interference-aware virtual clustering paradigm for resource management in cognitive femtocell networks

Femtocells represent a promising alternative solution for high quality wireless access in indoor scenarios where conventional cellular system coverage can be poor. They are randomly deployed by the end user, so only post deployment network planning is possible. Furthermore, this uncoordinated deployment creates severe interference to co-located femtocells, especially in dense deployments. This paper presents a new architecture using a generalised virtual cluster femtocell (GVCF) paradigm, which groups together FAP into logical clusters. It guarantees severely interfering and overlapping femtocells are assigned to different clusters. Since each cluster operates on different band of frequencies, the corresponding virtual cluster controller only has to manage its own FAPs, so the overall system complexity is low. The performance of the GVCF algorithm is analysed from both a resource availability and cluster number perspective. Simulation results conclusively corroborate the superior performance of the GVCF model in interference mitigation, particularly in high density FAP scenarios

Mitigating autogenous shrinkage by means of superabsorbent polymers : effect on concrete properties

(Ultra-)high performance concrete ((U)HPC) is very prone to autogenous shrinkage cracking. These cracks can create preferential pathways for the ingress of harmful substances which can facilitate the corrosion process of the steel reinforcement, resulting in a decreased durability and structural integrity of the concrete structure. Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) can reduce or even mitigate autogenous shrinkage as they absorb water in the fresh concrete mix and provide it to the cement particles at the right moment in the hydration process, acting as internal curing agent for the concrete. To study the mitigation of autogenous shrinkage by SAPs, five different superabsorbent polymers based on the copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) with dimethylaminoethyl methacrylate (DMAEMA) were synthesized at Ghent University. This paper focusses on the compatibility tests aiming at evaluating the effect of these SAPs on initial flow and slump life (rheology), hydration kinetics (reactivity) and mechanical properties (3, 7 and 28 days strength). The most promising SAPs will be further studied on their effect to mitigate autogenous shrinkage