Teleoperation in the Presence of Communication Delays

Modern industrial processes, public service needs, and research interests have established a clear need to perform work remotely [12][4]. Teleoperators were developed with the advent of nuclear industry in the mid 1940\u27s and have been since used extensively to perform work in hazardous environments (nuclear, chemical), undersea (resource exploration, waste management, pollution monitoring), and in the outer space (sample acquisition, satellite deployment/repair). Sophisticated systems have been designed and built to meet these needs, providing the human operator with high bandwidth and high fidelity visual and kinesthetic feedback information about the task in progress [22] [32] [16] [6]

Planification de mouvement pour la manipulation d'objets sous contraintes d'interaction homme-robot

Un robot agit sur son environnement par le mouvement, sa capacité à planifier ses mouvements est donc une composante essentielle de son autonomie. L'objectif de cette thèse est concevoir des méthodes algorithmiques performantes permettant le calcul automatique de trajectoires pour des systèmes robotiques complexes dans le cadre de la robotique d'assistance. Les systèmes considérés qui ont pour vocation de servir l'homme et de l'accompagner dans des tâches du quotidien doivent tenir compte de la sécurité et du bien-être de l'homme. Pour cela, les mouvements du robot doivent être générés en considérant explicitement le partenaire humain raisonant sur un modèle du comportement social de l'homme, de ses capacités et de ses limites afin de produire un comportement synergique optimal.Dans cette thèse nous étendons les travaux pionniers menés au LAAS dans ce domaine afin de produire des mouvements considérant l homme de manière explicite dans des environnements encombrés. Des algorithmes d exploration de l espace des configurations par échantillonnage aléatoire sont combinés à des algorithmes d optimisation de trajectoire afin de produire des mouvements sûrs et agréables. Nous proposons dans un deuxième temps un planificateur de tâche d échange d objet prenant en compte la mobilité du receveur humain permettant ainsi de partager l effort lors du transfert. La pertinence de cette approche a été étudiée dans une étude utilisateur. Finalement, nous présentons une architecture logicielle qui permet de prendre en compte l homme de manière dynamique lors de la réalisation de tâches de manipulation interactiveA robot act upon its environment through motion, the ability to plan its movements is therefore an essential component of its autonomy. The objective of this thesis is to design algorithmic methods to perform automatic trajectory computation for complex robotic systems in the context of assistive robotics. This emerging field of autonomous robotics applications brings new constraints and new challenges. Such systems that are designed to serve humans and to help in daily tasks must consider the safety and well-being of the surrounding humans. To do this, the robot's motions must be generated by considering the human partner explicitly. For comfort and efficiency, the robot must take into account a model of human social behavior, capabilities and limitations to produce an optimal synergistic behavior.In this thesis we extend to cluttered environments the pioneering work that has been conducted at LAAS in this field. Algorithms that explore the configuration space by random sampling are combined with trajectory optimization algorithms to produce safe and human aware motions. Secondly we propose a planner for object handover taking into account the mobility of the human recipient allowing to share the effort during the transfer. The relevance of this approach has been studied in a user study. Finally, we present a software architecture developed in collaboration with a partner of the European project Dexmart that allows to take dynamically into account humans during the execution of interactive manipulation tasksTOULOUSE-INSA-Bib. electronique (315559905) / SudocSudocFranceF

Robotics-Inspired Methods for the Simulation of Conformational Changes in Proteins

Cette thèse présente une approche de modélisation inspirée par la robotique pour l'étude des changements conformationnels des protéines. Cette approche est basée sur une représentation mécanistique des protéines permettant l'application de méthodes efficaces provenant du domaine de la robotique. Elle fournit également une méthode appropriée pour le traitement gros-grains des protéines sans perte de détail au niveau atomique. L'approche présentée dans cette thèse est appliquée à deux types de problèmes de simulation moléculaire. Dans le premier, cette approche est utilisée pour améliorer l'échantillonnage de l'espace conformationnel des protéines. Plus précisément, cette approche de modélisation est utilisée pour implémenter des classes de mouvements pour l'échantillonnage, aussi bien connues que nouvelles, ainsi qu'une stratégie d'échantillonnage mixte, dans le contexte de la méthode de Monte Carlo. Les résultats des simulations effectuées sur des protéines ayant des topologies différentes montrent que cette stratégie améliore l'échantillonnage, sans toutefois nécessiter de ressources de calcul supplémentaires. Dans le deuxième type de problèmes abordés ici, l'approche de modélisation mécanistique est utilisée pour implémenter une méthode inspirée par la robotique et appliquée à la simulation de mouvements de grande amplitude dans les protéines. Cette méthode est basée sur la combinaison de l'algorithme RRT (Rapidly-exploring Random Tree) avec l'analyse en modes normaux, qui permet une exploration efficace des espaces de dimension élevée tels les espaces conformationnels des protéines. Les résultats de simulations effectuées sur un ensemble de protéines montrent l'efficacité de la méthode proposée pour l'étude des transitions conformationnellesProteins are biological macromolecules that play essential roles in living organisms. Un- derstanding the relationship between protein structure, dynamics and function is indis- pensable for advances in fields such as biology, pharmacology and biotechnology. Study- ing this relationship requires a combination of experimental and computational methods, whose development is the object of very active interdisciplinary research. In such a context, this thesis presents a robotics-inspired modeling approach for studying confor- mational changes in proteins. This approach is based on a mechanistic representation of proteins that enables the application of efficient methods originating from the field of robotics. It also provides an accurate method for coarse-grained treatment of proteins without loosing full-atom details.The presented approach is applied in this thesis to two different molecular simulation problems. First, the approach is used to enhance sampling of the conformational space of proteins using the Monte Carlo method. The modeling approach is used to implement new and known Monte Carlo trial move classes as well as a mixed sampling strategy. Results of simulations performed on proteins with different topologies show that this strategy enhances sampling without demanding higher computational resources. In the second problem tackled in this thesis, the mechanistic modeling approach is used to implement a robotics-inspired method for simulating large amplitude motions in proteins. This method is based on the combination of the Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) algorithm with Normal Mode Analysis (NMA), which allows efficient exploration of the high dimensional conformational spaces of proteins. Results of simulations performed on ten different proteins of different sizes and topologies show the effectiveness of the proposed method for studying conformational transitionsTOULOUSE-INSA-Bib. electronique (315559905) / SudocSudocFranceF

An exploration of the relationships among facial dimensions, age, sex, dominance status and personality in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)

Aspects of personality in nonhuman primates have been linked to health, social relationships, and life history outcomes. In humans as well as nonhuman primates, facial morphology is associated with assertiveness, aggression, and measures of dominance status. In this study we aimed to examine the relationship among facial morphology, age, sex, dominance status, and ratings on the personality dimensions Confidence, Openness, Assertiveness, Friendliness, Activity, and Anxiety in rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). We measured facial width-to-height ratio (fWHR) and lower-height/full-height ratio (fLHFH) using photographs from 109 captive rhesus macaques, which observers also assessed for dominance status and personality, and explored the associations among facial morphology, age, sex, dominance status, and personality. fWHR and fLHFH personality associations depended on age category: Assertiveness was associated with higher fWHR and fLHFH, and Confidence was associated with lower fWHR and fLHFH, but all these associations were consistent only in individuals <8 yr. of age. We found fWHR and fLHFH to not be consistently associated with sex or dominance status; compared to younger individuals, we found few associations with fWHR and fLHFH for individuals older than 8 yr., which may be due to limited sample size. Our results indicate that in macaques <8 yr. old, facial morphology is associated with the Assertiveness and Confidence personality dimensions, which is consistent with results suggesting a relationship between fWHR and trait aggression in humans and assertiveness in brown capuchins, all of which implies that fWHR might be a cue to assertive and aggressive traits

Association of Gender with Clinical Expression, Quality of Life, Disability, and Depression and Anxiety in Patients with Systemic Sclerosis

OBJECTIVES: To assess the association of gender with clinical expression, health-related quality of life (HRQoL), disability, and self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). METHODS: SSc patients fulfilling the American College of Rheumatology and/or the Leroy and Medsger criteria were assessed for clinical symptoms, disability, HRQoL, self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety by specific measurement scales. RESULTS: Overall, 381 SSc patients (62 males) were included. Mean age and disease duration at the time of evaluation were 55.9 (13.3) and 9.5 (7.8) years, respectively. One-hundred-and-forty-nine (40.4%) patients had diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc). On bivariate analysis, differences were observed between males and females for clinical symptoms and self-reported symptoms of depression and anxiety, however without reaching statistical significance. Indeed, a trend was found for higher body mass index (BMI) (25.0 [4.1] vs 23.0 [4.5], p = 0.013), more frequent dcSSc, echocardiography systolic pulmonary artery pressure >35 mmHg and interstitial lung disease in males than females (54.8% vs 37.2%, p = 0.010; 24.2% vs 10.5%, p = 0.003; and 54.8% vs 41.2%, p = 0.048, respectively), whereas calcinosis and self-reported anxiety symptoms tended to be more frequent in females than males (36.0% vs 21.4%, p = 0.036, and 62.3% vs 43.5%, p = 0.006, respectively). On multivariate analysis, BMI, echocardiography PAP>35 mmHg, and anxiety were the variables most closely associated with gender. CONCLUSIONS: In SSc patients, male gender tends to be associated with diffuse disease and female gender with calcinosis and self-reported symptoms of anxiety. Disease-associated disability and HRQoL were similar in both groups

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Generation automatique de trajectoires sans collision et planification de taches de manipulation en robotique

SIGLECNRS T Bordereau / INIST-CNRS - Institut de l'Information Scientifique et TechniqueFRFranc