scholarly journals Soft-bodied adaptive multimodal locomotion strategies in fluid-filled confined spaces

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (27) ◽  
pp. eabh2022
Author(s):  
Ziyu Ren ◽  
Rongjing Zhang ◽  
Ren Hao Soon ◽  
Zemin Liu ◽  
Wenqi Hu ◽  
...  

Soft-bodied locomotion in fluid-filled confined spaces is critical for future wireless medical robots operating inside vessels, tubes, channels, and cavities of the human body, which are filled with stagnant or flowing biological fluids. However, the active soft-bodied locomotion is challenging to achieve when the robot size is comparable with the cross-sectional dimension of these confined spaces. Here, we propose various control and performance enhancement strategies to let the sheet-shaped soft millirobots achieve multimodal locomotion, including rolling, undulatory crawling, undulatory swimming, and helical surface crawling depending on different fluid-filled confined environments. With these locomotion modes, the sheet-shaped soft robot can navigate through straight or bent gaps with varying sizes, tortuous channels, and tubes with a flowing fluid inside. Such soft robot design along with its control and performance enhancement strategies are promising to be applied in future wireless soft medical robots inside various fluid-filled tight regions of the human body.

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9655
Author(s):  
Davidson de Almeida Santos ◽  
Osvaldo Luiz Gonçalves Quelhas ◽  
Carlos Francisco Simões Gomes ◽  
Luis Perez Zotes ◽  
Sérgio Luiz Braga França ◽  
...  

Sustainability has become a relevant element for organizations due to several motivators: companies adopt sustainability practices in need for regulatory compliance, anticipation of regulatory changes, understanding of limited natural resources, and a desire to limit expenditure associated with resource consumption and waste disposal. Thus, this article aims to identify the gaps present in maturity models, present an integrator theoretical model that considers the characteristic elements of the models present in the literature and affects the level of maturity in sustainability. The construction of the integrator theoretical model was based on the following stages: research questions; theoretical framework on Supply Chain Management; sustainability and concept of maturity model; maturity models and performance measurement systems; interpretation/analysis of research; and construction of the integrator theoretical model. The literature review was carried out in the Scopus and Web of Science databases. The main conclusions: maturity models focus on only one aspect or are excessively broad and do not include in detail the elements necessary to measure the level of maturity in sustainability. The proposed model aims to mitigate these gaps with the addition of the cross-sectional dimension, which offers an integrated and holistic view in relation to the other dimensions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-156
Author(s):  
Laili Rahmatul Ilmi

Background: Workload may indirectly cause stress. The ability to manage work stress may affect staff’s motivation and performance. The staff performance will affect decision-making in improving the service quality. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the relationship between stress management, work motivation and work performance. Method: This was an analytic observational study with a cross sectional approach. A sample of 19 medical record staff, working at Prof. Dr. R Soeharso orthopedic hospital Surakarta, were selected for this study. A set of questionnaires were developed and administered to measure stress management, work motivation and work performance. Data were then analyzed with a bivariate correlation analysis. Results: There were statistically significant correlations between work stress management, work motivation and work performance. The ability to manage stress positively increased the motivation (r= 0,56; p= 0,013), as well as the work performance (r= 0,49; p= 0,036). Moreover, a higher motivation will lead to a higher performance (r= 0,42; p= 0,071). Conclusion: There were positive relationships between work stress management, work motivation and work performance. Key words: work stress management, motivation, performance.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-211
Author(s):  
Sidra Sarwar ◽  
Sara Khalid ◽  
Tahir Mahmood ◽  
Hadeeqa Jabeen ◽  
Shahid Imran

Background: Musculoskeletal disorders are not only becoming prevalent among health care professionals in our country but are affecting their health and performance adversely. They are caused by poor ergonomics and awkward posture during work activities. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of neck and upper limb musculoskeletal disorders in dentists of Lahore, Pakistan. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted during October 2017 to March 2018. The data was collected using convenient sampling technique from 162 Dentists including 52 males and 110 females of Children hospital Lahore, Punjab Dental hospital and Fatima Memorial Hospital, Lahore. Data was collected by using Mangalore Questionnaire for identification of musculoskeletal disorders. Descriptive analysis of the data was done using SPSS version 22.0. Results: Of 162 dentists, 115 (71%) suffered from musculoskeletal disorders. Shoulder was the most commonly affected region (30.9%) followed by neck (25.9%), arm (6.2%), wrist (4.3%), elbow (3.1%) and forearm (0.6%). Pain (45.7%) was found to be the most common complaint followed by muscle weakness (20.4%), paraesthesia (3.7%) and swelling (1.2%). Conclusions: It was concluded that majority of the dentists were suffering from musculoskeletal disorders with shoulder as the most affected region and pain as the most frequent complaint. Key words: Dentists, Musculoskeletal disorders, Neck pain, Upper extremity


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-363
Author(s):  
Damian Boniface Sambuo ◽  
Stephen Kirama ◽  
Kitala Malamsha

Determination of fish landing price is important, as the same contributes to the structure, conduct and performance of the fish market in Lake Victoria. Determination of relevant landing price is a gap to console between fishermen, agents (middlemen), processors and the government. The main objective of this study was therefore to examine fish price determination. Specifically, to examine the methods for fish price determination and analyse factors that affect fish landing price in Lake Victoria, a cross-sectional design was employed, and 300 respondents were randomly selected from two district councils, namely, Sengerema and Buchosa. Both qualitative and quantitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and inferential analysis. Findings show that landing price is determined through formal negotiation with processors, consultation with other traders, informal negotiation with buyers and Beach Management Unit (BMU). The study concluded that these are the common methods used to determine landing prices. Also, distance from fishing to onshore landing centres, market information channels, age and experiences of the fishermen are the factors significantly found affecting landing price. It is recommended that the mechanism for setting up fishery price, fish market structure, fishery information and the formation of fishery regulatory body needs fishery policy and sector reforms that mark the determination of fish landing price.


Author(s):  
Yi-Ning Wu ◽  
Adam Norton ◽  
Michael R. Zielinski ◽  
Pei-Chun Kao ◽  
Andrew Stanwicks ◽  
...  

Objective To provide a comprehensive characterization of explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) personal protective equipment (PPE) by evaluating its effects on the human body, specifically the poses, tasks, and conditions under which EOD operations are performed. Background EOD PPE is designed to protect technicians from a blast. The required features of protection make EOD PPE heavy, bulky, poorly ventilated, and difficult to maneuver in. It is not clear how the EOD PPE wearer physiologically adapts to maintain physical and cognitive performance during EOD operations. Method Fourteen participants performed EOD operations including mobility and inspection tasks with and without EOD PPE. Physiological measurement and kinematic data recording were used to record human physiological responses and performance. Results All physiological measures were significantly higher during the mobility and the inspection tasks when EOD PPE was worn. Participants spent significantly more time to complete the mobility tasks, whereas mixed results were found in the inspection tasks. Higher back muscle activations were seen in participants who performed object manipulation while wearing EOD PPE. Conclusion EOD operations while wearing EOD PPE pose significant physical stress on the human body. The wearer’s mobility is impacted by EOD PPE, resulting in decreased speed and higher muscle activations. Application The testing and evaluation methodology in this study can be used to benchmark future EOD PPE designs. Identifying hazards posed by EOD PPE lays the groundwork for developing mitigation plans, such as exoskeletons, to reduce physical and cognitive stress caused by EOD PPE on the wearers without compromising their operational performance.


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