Assistive Technologies for Supporting Elderly People at Home: Telegerontology?

P. Su?rez,J. C. Mill?n-Calenti,A. L?pez-Vilar?n,I. Gonz?lez-Abraldes,M. Villanueva-Sampayo,A. Maseda 한국노년학연구회 2010 한국 노년학연구 Vol.19 No.-

The aging of the population worldwide implies an increase in the number of cognitive impairment associated diseases in the elderly. On the other hand, the number of informal caregivers is decreasing and consequently, we must guarantee the existence of enough social and health services for all the population in the immediate future. The new technologies allow us the development of more advanced instruments for gerontological intervention for both patients and caregivers. These new systems help to prevent the lack of home assistance, and thanks to the Internet connection, we avoid the disadvantages of the geographic dispersion of the population. In this article, we describe Telegerontology?, a new home attention tool for patients and caregivers. It integrates different functionalities related to physical, cognitive and medical intervention it works like a family support thanks to the professionals/patients communication, and integrates an advanced emergency system within a domotic environment. This system improves the traditional telecare since it, actually, has more sophisticated services and a higher quality of home support.

Work Ability Index: Psychometric Testing in Aeronautical Industry Workers

González-Domínguez María Eugenia,Fernández-García Elena,Paloma-Castro Olga,González-López Regina María,Rivas Pérez María Paz,López-Molina Luis,García-Jiménez Jesús,Romero-Sánchez José Manuel 한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원 2024 Safety and health at work Vol.15 No.1

Background The Work Ability Index (WAI) is an instrument that measures work ability. The wide dispersion of the WAI internationally has led to its adaptation for use in different countries. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the WAI. Methods A methodological design was used over an opportunistic sample of 233 workers in the aeronautical industry in Spain. Reliability was evaluated through internal consistency. Factorial validity, known groups, and convergent validity were tested. Results The Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlation indicated an adequate internal consistency. The confirmatory factor analysis, performed to evaluate the factorial validity, found adequate fit indices for a two-factor solution with a high correlation between the factors. Factor 1, “Subjectively estimated work ability and resources”, was composed of 3 subscales and factor 2, “Ill-health-related”, of 2 subscales. Subscales 4 and 6 had loading in both factors. Workers under 45 years of age obtained higher significant scores than older ones. Convergent validity was also evidenced since WAI was highly correlated with self-assessment of health status. Conclusions The Spanish version of the WAI has shown evidence of reliability and validity in this study, supporting its use in individual and collective health surveillance by occupational health professionals. The factorial solution that was found has previously been reported in another international context. However, further research is needed to resolve the discrepancies detected in the role of some subscales between other national and international studies. Background The Work Ability Index (WAI) is an instrument that measures work ability. The wide dispersion of the WAI internationally has led to its adaptation for use in different countries. This study aimed to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the WAI. Methods A methodological design was used over an opportunistic sample of 233 workers in the aeronautical industry in Spain. Reliability was evaluated through internal consistency. Factorial validity, known groups, and convergent validity were tested. Results The Cronbach's alpha and item-total correlation indicated an adequate internal consistency. The confirmatory factor analysis, performed to evaluate the factorial validity, found adequate fit indices for a two-factor solution with a high correlation between the factors. Factor 1, “Subjectively estimated work ability and resources”, was composed of 3 subscales and factor 2, “Ill-health-related”, of 2 subscales. Subscales 4 and 6 had loading in both factors. Workers under 45 years of age obtained higher significant scores than older ones. Convergent validity was also evidenced since WAI was highly correlated with self-assessment of health status. Conclusions The Spanish version of the WAI has shown evidence of reliability and validity in this study, supporting its use in individual and collective health surveillance by occupational health professionals. The factorial solution that was found has previously been reported in another international context. However, further research is needed to resolve the discrepancies detected in the role of some subscales between other national and international studies.

Sonographic evaluation of fetal scrotum, testes and epididymis

( Álvaro López Soto ),( Jose Luis Meseguer González ),( María Velasco Martínez ),( Rocío López Pérez ),( Inmaculada Martínez Rivero ),( Mónica Lorente Fernández ),( Olivia García Izquierdo ),( Juan Pe 대한산부인과학회 2021 Obstetrics & Gynecology Science Vol.64 No.5

External male genitalia have rarely been evaluated on fetal ultrasound. Apart from visualization of the penis for fetal sex determination, there are no specific instructions or recommendations from scientific societies. This study aimed to review the current knowledge about prenatal diagnosis of the scrotum and internal structures, with discussion regarding technical aspects and clinical management. We conducted an article search in Medline, EMBASE, Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science databases for studies in English or Spanish language that discussed prenatal scrotal pathologies. We identified 72 studies that met the inclusion criteria. Relevant data were grouped into sections of embryology, ultrasound, pathology, and prenatal diagnosis. The scrotum and internal structures show a wide range of pathologies, with varying degrees of prevalence and morbidity. Most of the reported cases have described incidental findings diagnosed via striking ultrasound signs. Studies discussing normative data or management are scarce.

Potential Control of Foodborne Pathogenic Bacteria by Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus graminis Isolated from Fresh Vegetables

C.J. González-Pérez1,I. Vargas-Arispuro,E. Aispuro-Hernández,C.L. Aguilar-Gil,Y.E. Aguirre-Guzmán,A. Castillo,A. Hernández-Mendoza,J.F. Ayala-Zavala,M.A. Martínez-Téllez1 한국미생물·생명공학회 2019 한국미생물·생명공학회지 Vol.47 No.2

The consumption of fresh vegetables has been related to recurrent outbreaks of foodborne diseases (FBD) worldwide. Therefore, the development of effective alternative technologies is necessary to improve the safety of these products. This study aimed to isolate and identify epiphytic lactic acid bacteria (LAB) from fresh fruits and leafy vegetables and characterize their antagonistic capacity due to their ability to produce bacteriocins or antibacterial compounds. For this, 92 LAB isolates from fruits and leafy vegetables were screened for antagonistic activity. Two strains with the highest and broadest antagonistic activities were selected for further characterization; one from cantaloupe melon (strain CM175) and one from cilantro leaves (strain C15). The cell-free supernatants (CFS) of CM175 and C15 were found to exhibit antagonistic activity against FBD-causing pathogens. The CM175 and C15 strains were identified as Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus graminis, respectively. Notably, the P. pentosaceus CM175 CFS stopped the growth of Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Saintpaul, Staphylococcus aureus, and Listeria monocytogenes, and delayed Escherichia coli O157:H7 growth. Moreover, L. graminis C15 CFS delayed the growth of all indicator pathogens, but did not completely stop it. Organic acids and bacteriocin-like molecules were determined to be possibly exerting the observed antagonistic activity of the identified LAB strains. Thus, application of the antagonistic compounds produced by Pediococcus pentosaceus and Lactobacillus graminis could be a novel and ecological strategy in developing antimicrobial biopreservatives for the food industry and mitigating FBD by reducing the biological contamination in fruit and vegetable orchards, mainly via their potential in controlling both gram-negative and gram-positive pathogenic bacteria.

The Combination of Naproxen and Citral Reduces Nociception and Gastric Damage in Rats

Mario I. Ortiz,Martha L. Ramírez-Montiel,Martha P. González-García,Héctor A. Ponce-Monter,Gilberto Castañeda-Hernández,Raquel Cariño-Cortés 대한약학회 2010 Archives of Pharmacal Research Vol.33 No.10

It has been shown that the association of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs with plant extracts can increase their antinociceptive activity, allowing the use of lower doses and, thus, limiting side effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of the interaction between naproxen and citral on nociception and gastric injury in rats. Naproxen, citral, or combinations of naproxen and citral produced an antinociceptive effect. The administration of naproxen produced significant gastric damage, but this effect was not obtained with either citral or the naproxen-citral combination. The ED50 value was estimated for the individual drugs and an isobologram was constructed. The derived theoretical ED50 for the antinociceptive effect (423.8 mg/kg) was not significantly different from the observed experimental value (359.0 mg/kg); hence, the interaction between naproxen and citral mediating the antinociceptive effect is additive. These data suggest that the naproxen-citral combination interacts at the systemic level, produces minor gastric damage, and potentially has therapeutic advantages for the clinical treatment of inflammatory pain.

Benchmarking anthropomorphic hands through grasping simulations

Llop-Harillo Immaculada,Iserte José L,Pérez-González Antonio 한국CDE학회 2022 Journal of computational design and engineering Vol.9 No.2

In recent decades, the design of anthropomorphic hands has been developed greatly improving both cosmesis and functionality. Experimentation, simulation, and combined approaches have been used in the literature to assess the effect of design alternatives (DAs) on the final performance of artificial hands. However, establishing standard benchmarks for grasping and manipulation is a need recognized among the robotics community. Experimental approaches are costly, time consuming, and inconvenient in early design stages. Alternatively, computer simulation with the adaptation of metrics based on experimental benchmarks for anthropomorphic hands could be useful to evaluate and rank DAs. The aim of this study is to compare the anthropomorphism of the grasps performed with 28 DAs of the IMMA hand, developed by the authors, using either (i) the brute-force approach and grasp quality metrics proposed in previous works or (ii) a new simulation benchmark approach. The new methodology involves the generation of efficient grasp hypotheses and the definition of a new metric to assess stability and human likeness for the most frequently used grasp types in activities of daily living, pulp pinch and cylindrical grip, adapting the experimental Anthropomorphic Hand Assessment Protocol to the simulation environment. This new simulation benchmark, in contrast to the other approach, resulted in anthropomorphic and more realistic grasps for the expected use of the objects. Despite the inherent limitations of a simulation analysis, the benchmark proposed provides interesting results for selecting optimal DAs in order to perform stable and anthropomorphic grasps.

A novel six-degrees-of-freedom series-parallel manipulator

J. Gallardo-Alvarado,R. Rodríguez-Castro,C. R. Aguilar-Nájera,L. Pérez-González 대한기계학회 2012 JOURNAL OF MECHANICAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Vol.26 No.6

This paper addresses the description and kinematic analyses of a new non-redundant series-parallel manipulator. The primary feature of the robot is to have a decoupled topology consisting of a lower parallel manipulator, for controlling the orientation of the coupler platform,assembled in series connection with a upper parallel manipulator, for controlling the position of the output platform, capable to provide arbitrary poses to the output platform with respect to the fixed platform. The forward displacement analysis is carried-out in semi-closed form solutions by resorting to simple closure equations. On the other hand; the velocity, acceleration and singularity analyses of the manipulator are approached by means of the theory of screws. Simple and compact expressions are derived here for solving the infinitesimal kinematics by taking advantage of the concept of reciprocal screws. Furthermore, the analysis of the Jacobians of the robot shows that the lower parallel manipulator is practically free of singularities. In order to illustrate the performance of the manipulator, a numerical example which consists of solving the inverse/forward kinematics of the series-parallel manipulator as well as its singular configurations is provided.

Development of Optimal Nanocrystalline Absorption Layer for Thin Film Silicon Solar Cell Applications

C. Álvarez-Macías,J. D. Escobar-Carrasquilla,A. Dutt,E. Mon-Pérez,L. González,G. Santana 성균관대학교(자연과학캠퍼스) 성균나노과학기술원 2017 NANO Vol.12 No.11

To obtain an optimum absorption layer based on hydrogenated polymorphous and nanocrystalline silicon thin films in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition, radio frequency (RF) power was varied from 25W to 100W using a mixture of dichlorosilane and hydrogen. By Raman spectroscopy, the crystalline fraction was found to be varied from 7% to 69%, and RF power value of 75W was found to be suitable with an appropriate mixture of amorphous and crystalline phases, respectively. Thickness measurements performed by profilometry were cross-checked with the value obtained from the cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy micrographs. Micrographs obtained using high-resolution transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of silicon nanocrystals in the range of 2–5 nm with a strong probability of confinement effect. B and gap value of 1.55 eV at 75W upheld the suitability of this particular RF power for active absorption layer, which has also shown maximum photosensitivity.