Search results for "DEVICES"
showing 10 items of 615 documents
Factors affecting basket catheter detection of real and phantom rotors in the atria: A computational study
2018
[EN] Anatomically based procedures to ablate atrial fibrillation (AF) are often successful in terminating paroxysmal AF. However, the ability to terminate persistent AF remains disappointing. New mechanistic approaches use multiple-electrode basket catheter mapping to localize and target AF drivers in the form of rotors but significant concerns remain about their accuracy. We aimed to evaluate how electrode-endocardium distance, far-field sources and inter-electrode distance affect the accuracy of localizing rotors. Sustained rotor activation of the atria was simulated numerically and mapped using a virtual basket catheter with varying electrode densities placed at different positions withi…
Cubic Microcontainers Improve In Situ Colonic Mucoadhesion and Absorption of Amoxicillin in Rats
2020
An increased interest in colonic drug delivery has led to a higher focus on the design of delivery devices targeting this part of the gastrointestinal tract. Microcontainers have previously facilitated an increase in oral bioavailability of drugs. The surface texture and shape of microcontainers have proven to influence the mucoadhesion ex vivo. In the present work, these findings were further investigated using an in situ closed-loop perfusion technique in the rat colon, which allowed for simultaneous evaluation of mucoadhesion of the microcontainers as well as drug absorption. Cylindrical, triangular and cubic microcontainers, with the same exterior surface area, were evaluated based on i…
Optimization design process of a morphing winglet
2018
Aeronautic and aerospace engineering is recently moving in the direction of developing morphing wing devices, with the aim of making adaptable the aerodynamic shapes to different operational conditions. Those devices may be classified according to two different conceptual architectures: kinematic or compliant systems. Both of them embed within their body all the active components (actuators and sensors), necessary to their operations. In the first case, the geometry variation is achieved through an augmented classical mechanism, while in the second case the form modification is due to a special arrangement of the inner structure creating a distributed elastic hinges arrangement. Whatever is…
Gender and age distribution of motorcycle crashes in Spain.
2018
This study analysed motorcycle crashes in Spain. Ninety-nine thousand three hundred and four motorcycle crash reports filed in the years 2006-2011 were extracted from the Directorate General of Traffic database of crashes with victims. These data were analysed in terms of gender, age groups, trip purpose, type of crash, speed violation, day of the week, harm caused, use of helmet and psychophysical conditions of the driver to study the characteristics of motorcycle crashes in Spain and to assess the differences between male and female motorcycle drivers in these crashes. Significant differences were found in all the variables considered in the study, which implies gender differences in the …
Internal exposure of firefighting instructors to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) during live fire training
2019
Firefighting instructors in live fire training are inevitably exposed to emissions containing, carcinogenic PAH. The study investigated PAH uptake in a group of firefighting instructors during short-term exposure in live fire training by urinary biomonitoring. Six firefighting instructors (non-smokers) completed five 2 h-training sessions each in a carbonaceous-fired simulation unit using self-containing breathing apparatuses (SCBA). Complying with a minimum time interval of six days between the individual training sessions, the participants provided urine samples before and immediately after, as well as 1, 3, 6, 9, 11, and 18 h after each training session. Samples were analyzed for 10 mono…
The impact of rear-view mirror distance and curvature on judgements relevant to road safety
2011
We report two experiments that investigate the impact of rear-view mirror distance and curvature on distance, spacing, and time-to-contact (TTC) judgements. The variation in mirror distance had a significant effect on TTC judgements, but only marginally influenced distance and spacing estimations. As mirror distance increased, TTC was overestimated, which is potentially dangerous. Control conditions with identical visual angles across different mirror distances revealed that effects were not solely caused by variation in visual angle. The impact of mirror curvature moderated the effect. While observers were unable to compensate for the mirror distance effect, they could do so for the distor…
Convex rear view mirrors compromise distance and time-to-contact judgements
2007
Convex rear view mirrors increasingly replace planar mirrors in automobiles. While increasing the field of view, convex mirrors are also taken to increase distance estimates and thereby reduce safety margins. However, this study failed to replicate systematic distance estimation errors in a real world setting. Whereas distance estimates were accurate on average, convex mirrors lead to significantly more variance in distance and spacing estimations. A second experiment explored the effect of mirrors on time-to-contact estimations, which had not been previously researched. Potential effects of display size were separated from effects caused by distortion in convex mirrors. Time-to-contact est…
Modeling offenses among motorcyclists involved in crashes in Spain.
2013
In relative terms, Spanish motorcyclists are more likely to be involved in crashes than other drivers and this tendency is constantly increasing. The objective of this study is to identify the factors that are related to being an offender in motorcycle accidents. A binary logit model is used to differentiate between offender and non-offender motorcyclists. A motorcyclist was considered to be offender when s/he had committed at least one traffic offense at the moment previous to the crash. The analysis is based on the official accident database of the Spanish general directorate of traffic (DGT) for the 2003–2008 time period. A number of explanatory variables including motorcyclist character…
Tidal Volume Estimation during Helmet Noninvasive Ventilation: an Experimental Feasibility Study
2019
AbstractWe performed a bench (BS) and human (HS) study to test the hypothesis that estimation of tidal volume (VT) during noninvasive helmet pressure support ventilation (nHPSV) would be possible using a turbine driven ventilator (TDV) coupled with an intentional leak single-limb vented circuit. During the BS a mannequin was connected to a lung simulator (LS) and at different conditions of respiratory mechanics, positive end expiratory pressure (PEEP) levels and leaks (30, 50 and 80 L/min). All differences were within the 95% limits of agreement (LoA) in all conditions in the Bland-Altman plot. The overall bias (difference between VT measured by TDV and LS) was 35 ml (95% LoA 10 to 57 ml), …
Influence of age, gender and obesity on pressure discomfort threshold of the foot: A cross-sectional study
2021
[EN] Background: Foot pain is a highly prevalent health problem for which measures such as a pattern of Pressure Discomfort Threshold of the foot plantar surface can provide valuable information for orthosis design. This study aimed to describe such pattern as a tool for the assessment of painful conditions of the feet and to analyse how it modifies according to age, gender and obesity. Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed with participants allocated in: Group 1 people aged 20 to 35 years, Group 2 aged 50 to 65 years and Group 3 aged over 65. Pressure Discomfort Threshold on twelve points of the foot plantar surface was measured with an adapted manual dynamometer. Inferential anal…