Benchmarking Bipedal Locomotion: A Unified Scheme for Humanoids, Wearable Robots, and Humans

In the field of robotics, there is a growing awareness of the importance of benchmarking [1], [2]. Benchmarking not only allows the assessment and comparison of the performance of different technologies but also defines and supports the standardization and regulation processes during their introduction to the market. Its importance has been recently emphasized by the adoption of the technology readiness levels (TRLs) in the Horizon 2020 information and communication technologies by the European Union as an important guideline to assess when a technology can shift from one TRL to the other. The objective of this article is to define the basis of a benchmarking scheme for the assessment of bipedal locomotion that could be applied and shared across different research communities.European Commission Seventh Framework Program, and COS

Ready for Failure? Irrational Beliefs, Perfectionism and Mental Health in Male Soccer Academy Players

Altres ajuts: acords transformatius de la UABSince Junior-to-Senior Transition (JST) is only considered successful when soccer players become professionals, many junior athletes must cope with failure, and their sporting careers and mental health may be at risk. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to (a) identify different career expectancies of male soccer academy players, and (b) describe irrational beliefs, perfectionism and mental health levels associated with different career expectancies, identifying risk factors in the JST. A total of 515 male soccer players between 14 and 19 years old (M = 16.7; SD = 1.6) who played in Spanish professional youth academies during the 2020-2021 season, answered questionnaires on sports career model, beliefs, perfectionism and mental health (i.e., iPBI, MPS-2 and GHQ-12). The results suggest that the number of juniors who aspire to be professionals (57%) far exceeds the number of players who become professionals (10%; Dugdale in Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports 31:73-84, 2021). Also, results show that this population presents high levels of demandingness (M = 5.5), low frustration tolerance (M = 5.2), self-organization (M = 5.2) and social functioning (M = 5.5), and low scores on depreciation (M = 2.6) and loss of confidence and self-esteem (M = 2.4). In a more detailed way, the results are compared according to expectancies. These academies are usually environments where success and failure are antagonistic concepts, and where perfectionism and irrational beliefs are normalized and integrated among all members of this context. However, the possible maladaptive effects put their mental health at risk. With the aim of rationalizing the concepts of success and failure and protecting their mental health, especially those who will not become professionals, this study proposes a new route based on the REBT philosophy and ARRC technique

Convective instability in proto-neutron stars

The linear hydrodynamic stability of proto-neutron stars (PNSs) is considered taking into account dissipative processes such as neutrino transport and viscosity. We obtain the general instability criteria which differ essentially from the well-known Ledoux criterion used in previous studies. We apply the criteria to evolutive models of PNSs that, in general, can be subject to the various known regimes such as neutron fingers and convective instabilities. Our results indicate that the fingers instability arises in a more extended region of the stellar volume and lasts a longer time than expected.Comment: 17 pages, 3 figures. Accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journa

Intramuscular EMG-driven Musculoskeletal Modelling: Towards Implanted Muscle Interfacing in Spinal Cord Injury Patients

Objective: Surface EMG-driven modelling has been proposed as a means to control assistive devices by estimating joint torques. Implanted EMG sensors have several advantages over wearable sensors but provide a more localized information on muscle activity, which may impact torque estimates. Here, we tested and compared the use of surface and intramuscular EMG measurements for the estimation of required assistive joint torques using EMG driven modelling. Methods: Four healthy subjects and three incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) patients performed walking trials at varying speeds. Motion capture marker trajectories, surface and intramuscular EMG, and ground reaction forces were measured concurrently. Subject-specific musculoskeletal models were developed for all subjects, and inverse dynamics analysis was performed for all individual trials. EMG-driven modelling based joint torque estimates were obtained from surface and intramuscular EMG. Results: The correlation between the experimental and predicted joint torques was similar when using intramuscular or surface EMG as input to the EMG-driven modelling estimator in both healthy individuals and patients. Conclusion: We have provided the first comparison of non-invasive and implanted EMG sensors as input signals for torque estimates in healthy individuals and SCI patients. Significance: Implanted EMG sensors have the potential to be used as a reliable input for assistive exoskeleton joint torque actuation

A Robust Kalman Algorithm to Facilitate Human-Computer Interaction for People with Cerebral Palsy, Using a New Interface Based on Inertial Sensors

This work aims to create an advanced human-computer interface called ENLAZA for people with cerebral palsy (CP). Although there are computer-access solutions for disabled people in general, there are few evidences from motor disabled community (e.g., CP) using these alternative interfaces. The proposed interface is based on inertial sensors in order to characterize involuntary motion in terms of time, frequency and range of motion. This characterization is used to design a filtering technique that reduces the effect of involuntary motion on person-computer interaction. This paper presents a robust Kalman filter (RKF) design to facilitate fine motor control based on the previous characterization. The filter increases mouse pointer directivity and the target acquisition time is reduced by a factor of ten. The interface is validated with CP users who were unable to control the computer using other interfaces. The interface ENLAZA and the RKF enabled them to use the computer

Low Latency Estimation of Motor Intentions to Assist Reaching Movements along Multiple Sessions in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Feasibility Study

A corrigendum on Low Latency Estimation of Motor Intentions to Assist Reaching Movements along Multiple Sessions in Chronic Stroke Patients: A Feasibility Study by Ibáñez, J., Monge-Pereira, E., Molina-Rueda, F., Serrano, J. I., del Castillo, M. D., Cuesta-Gómez, A., et al. (2017). Front. Neurosci. 11:126. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00126. In the recently published article, there were incorrect and missing contents in the Acknowledgments section

Intramuscular Stimulation of Muscle Afferents Attains Prolonged Tremor Reduction in Essential Tremor Patients

This study proposes and clinically tests intramuscular electrical stimulation below motor threshold to achieve prolonged reduction of wrist flexion/extension tremor in Essential Tremor (ET) patients. The developed system consisted of an intramuscular thin-film electrode structure that included both stimulation and electromyography (EMG) recording electrodes, and a control algorithm for the timing of intramuscular stimulation based on EMG (closed-loop stimulation). Data were recorded from nine ET patients with wrist flexion/extension tremor recruited from the Gregorio Mara\uf1\uf3n Hospital (Madrid, Spain). Patients participated in two experimental sessions comprising: 1) sensory stimulation of wrist flexors/extensors via thin-film multichannel intramuscular electrodes; and 2) surface stimulation of the nerves innervating the same target muscles. For each session, four of these patients underwent random 60-s trials of two stimulation strategies for each target muscle: 1) selective and adaptive timely stimulation (SATS) - based on EMG of the antagonist muscle; and 2) continuous stimulation (CON) of target muscles. Two patients underwent SATS stimulation trials alone while the other three underwent CON stimulation trials alone in each session. Kinematics of wrist, elbow, and shoulder, together with clinical scales, were used to assess tremor before, right after, and 24 h after each session. Intramuscular SATS achieved, on average, 32% acute (during stimulation) tremor reduction on each trial, while continuous stimulation augmented tremorgenic activity. Furthermore, tremor reduction was significantly higher using intramuscular than surface stimulation. Prolonged reduction of tremor amplitude (24 h after the experiment) was observed in four patients. These results showed acute and prolonged (24 h) tremor reduction using a minimally invasive neurostimulation technology based on SATS of primary sensory afferents of wrist muscles. This strategy might open the possibility of an alternative therapeutic approach for ET patients

Meningocele transetmoidal. Diagnóstico en edad adulta: presentación de un caso

La herniación extracraneal de las cubiertas meníngeas, solas o acompañadas de tejido encefálico, a través de un defecto de cierre de los huesos craneales, se define con los términos de meningocele y encefalocele. Estos se pueden clasificar según su contenido o su localización. Los meningoencefaloceles transetmoidales representan el 5% de los meningoencefaloceles, los cuales a su vez constituyen el 8-19% de todos los disrafismos del SNC. Presentamos un caso de una paciente de 54 años de edad con cuadro clínico de rinoliquorrea de 10 años de evolución y meningitis de repetición. Mediante tomografia computadorizada se diagnosticó de un meningocele transetmoidal, que fue tratado satisfactoriamente con cirugía. Ante un paciente con meningitis de repetición, se debe valorar la presencia de rinoliquorrea y, en caso de tenerla, el paciente debe ser sometido a un estudio radiológico exhaustivo, para identificar la solución de continuidad a través de la cual sale el LCR y poder ofrecerle el tratamiento adecuado. Una de las patologías que pueden dar esta manifestación es el meningoencefalocele transetmoidal. El estudio de la fosa anterior con tomografia computadorizada es un buen método para el diagnóstico de esta patología, no obstante, en la actualidad el método de elección es la resonancia magnética

Six weeks Use of a Wearable Soft-robotic Glove During ADL:Preliminary Results of Ongoing Clinical Study

In this ongoing study, an assistive wearable soft-robotic glove, named Carbonhand, is tested at home for 6 weeks by subjects with decreased handgrip strength to receive a first insight in the therapeutic effect of using this assistive grip-supporting glove during ADLs. Preliminary results of the first 13 participants showed that participants appreciated use of the glove to assist them with daily life activities. Even more, grip strength without glove improved and functional performance showed increases as well. These preliminary findings hold promise for observing a clinical effect of using the soft-robotic glove as assistance in ADLs upon completion of data collection