scholarly journals Collision-Detecting Device for Omnidirectional Electric Wheelchair

ISRN Robotics ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 2013 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shuichi Ishida ◽  
Hiroyuki Miyamoto

An electric wheelchair is the device to support the self-movement of the elderly and people with physical disabilities. In this paper, a prototype design of an electric wheelchair with a high level of mobility and safety is presented. The electric wheelchair has a high level of mobility by employing an omnidirectional mechanism. Large numbers of mechanisms have been developed to realize omnidirectional motion. However, they have various drawbacks such as a complicated mechanism and difficulty of employment for practical use. Although the ball wheel drive mechanism is simple, it realizes stable motion when negotiating a step, gap, or slope. The high level of mobility enhances the freedom of users while increasing the risk of collision with obstacles or walls. To prevent collisions with obstacles, some electric wheelchairs are equipped with infrared sensors, ultrasonic sensors, laser range finders, or machine vision. However, since these devices are expensive, it will be difficult for them to be widely used with electric wheelchairs. We have developed a prototype design of collision-detecting device with inexpensive sensors. This device detects the occurrence of collisions and can calculate the direction of the colliding object. A prototype has been developed to perform motion experiments and verify the accuracy of the device. The results of experiments are also presented in this paper.

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (s-1) ◽  
pp. 171-193 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Gibbins ◽  
Susan A. McCracken ◽  
Steven E. Salterio

Much of what takes place in auditor-client management negotiations occurs in unobservable settings and normally does not result in publicly available archival records. Recent research has increasingly attempted to probe issues relating to accounting negotiations in part due to recent events in the financial world. In this paper, we compare recalls from the two sides of such negotiations, audit partners, and chief financial officers (CFOs), collected in two field questionnaires. We examine the congruency of the auditors' and the CFOs' negotiation recalls for all negotiation elements and features that were common across the two questionnaires (detailed analyses of the questionnaires are reported elsewhere). The results show largely congruent recall: only limited divergences in recall of common elements and features. Specifically, we show a high level of congruency across CFOs and audit partners in the type of issues negotiated, parties involved in resolving the issue, and the elements making up the negotiation process, including agreement on the relative importance of various common accounting contextual features. The analysis of the common accounting contextual features suggests that certain contextual features are consistently important across large numbers of negotiations, whether viewed from the audit partner's or the CFO's perspective, and hence may warrant future study. Finally, the comparative analysis allows us to identify certain common elements and contextual features that may influence both audit partners and CFOs to consider the accounting negotiation setting as mainly distributive (win-lose).


1970 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 264-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.H. Reuling ◽  
J.T. Schwartz

In the late 1950's and early 1960's, it became evident that some glaucoma patients developed elevations of intraocular pressure, which were difficult to control, following prolonged use of systemic or ocular medications containing corticosteroids (Chandler, 1955, Alfano, 1963; Armaly, 1963). In addition, some patients without glaucoma, when treated with steroids for long periods of time, developed clinical signs of chronic simple glaucoma (McLean, 1950; François, 1954; Covell, 1958; Linner, 1959; Goldman, 1962). Fortunately, the elevation of intraocular pressure was reversible if the drug was discontinued.Over the past decade, extensive investigation of the “steroid response” has been undertaken. For this presentation, the steroid response may be considered as a gradual elevation of intraocular pressure, occurring over several weeks, in an eye being medicated with corticosteroid drops several times a day. The elevation in pressure is usually accompanied by a reduction in the facility of aqueous outflow. When relatively large numbers of subjects were tested with topical steroids, so that a wide range of responsiveness could be observed, a variation in individual sensitivity was demonstrated. Frequency distributions of intraocular pressure or change in pressure following steroids showed a skew toward the high side. On the basis of trimodal characteristics which they observed in such frequency distributions, Becker and Hahn (1964), Becker (1965) and Armaly (1965, 1966) considered the possible existence of several genetically determined subpopulations. These investigators distinguished three subpopulations on the basis of low, intermediate, and high levels of pressure response. It was hypothesized that these levels of response characterized three phenotypes, corresponding to the three possible genotypes of an allele pair, wherein one member of the pair determined a low level of response, and the other member determined a high level of response (Armaly, 1967).


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (04) ◽  
pp. 640-642
Author(s):  
Halil Onder

AbstractGait disorders are common in the elderly as there are various causes of neurological and non-neurological conditions. On the other hand, most of the gait parameters do change with advancing age which is identified as age-related physiological changes in gait. At this point, the discrimination between age-related physiological changes and gait disorders may be strictly challenging. After identifying gait as an abnormal pattern, classification of it and making the responsible pathophysiology also require high-level expertise in this regard. Herein, we present a rare patient with corticobasal degeneration (CBD) who had admitted initially due to complaints of gait problems. Over a long time, the patient had received the misdiagnosis of gait abnormality due to musculoskeletal problems by multiple physicians. However, the detailed neurological exam showed a higher level gait disorder (HLGD). Further investigations at this point yielded the diagnosis of CBD.


2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (09) ◽  
pp. S8-S13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thiago Marinho ◽  
Christopher Widdowson ◽  
Amy Oetting ◽  
Arun Lakshmanan ◽  
Hang Cui ◽  
...  

This article demonstrates a multidisciplinary approach that proposes to augment future caregiving by prolonged independence of older adults. The human–robot system allows the elderly to cooperate with small flying robots through an appropriate interface. ASPIRE provides a platform where high-level controllers can be designed to provide a layer of abstraction between the high-level task requests, the perceptual needs of the users, and the physical demands of the robotic platforms. With a robust framework that has the capability to account for human perception and comfort level, one can provide perceived safety for older adults, and further, add expressively that facilitates communication and interaction continuously throughout the stimulation. The proposed framework relies on an iterative process of low-level controllers design through experimental data collected from psychological trials. Future work includes the exploration of multiple carebots to cooperatively assist in caregiving tasks based on human-centered design approach.


2016 ◽  
Vol 256 ◽  
pp. 319-327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mario Rosso ◽  
Ildiko Peter ◽  
Ivano Gattelli

During the last decades under the enthusiastic and competent guidance of Mr Chiarmetta SSM processes attained in Italy at Stampal Spa (Torino) an unquestionable high level of industrial development with the production of large numbers of high performance automotive parts, like variety of suspension support, engine suspension mounts, steering knuckle, front suspension wheel, arm and rear axle. Among the most highlighted findings SSM processes demonstrated their capability to reduce the existing gap between casting and forging, moreover during such a processes there are the opportunity to better control the defect level.Purpose of this paper is to highlight the research work and the SSM industrial production attained and developed by Mr G.L. Chiarmetta, as well as to give an overview concerning some alternative methods for the production of enhanced performance light alloys components for critical industrial applications and to present an analysis of a new rheocasting process suitable for the manufacturing of high performance industrial components.


Foods ◽  
2022 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 223
Author(s):  
Milan Houška ◽  
Filipa Vinagre Marques Silva ◽  
Evelyn ◽  
Roman Buckow ◽  
Netsanet Shiferaw Terefe ◽  
...  

High pressure processing (HPP) is a cold pasteurization technology by which products, prepacked in their final package, are introduced to a vessel and subjected to a high level of isostatic pressure (300–600 MPa). High-pressure treatment of fruit, vegetable and fresh herb homogenate products offers us nearly fresh products in regard to sensorial and nutritional quality of original raw materials, representing relatively stable and safe source of nutrients, vitamins, minerals and health effective components. Such components can play an important role as a preventive tool against the start of illnesses, namely in the elderly. An overview of several food HPP products, namely of fruit and vegetable origin, marketed successfully around the world is presented. Effects of HPP and HPP plus heat on key spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms, including the resistant spore form and fruit/vegetable endogenous enzymes are reviewed, including the effect on the product quality. Part of the paper is devoted to the industrial equipment available for factories manufacturing HPP treated products.


2013 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-33
Author(s):  
Margarita Gedvilaitė-Kordušienė

The paper addresses the questions of demographic ageing at the beginning of the 21st century and the attitudes about who should be responsible for the elderly care in Lithuania. The analysis of age structure changes revealed three ways of demographic ageing: ‘from below’ (the youngest part of the population is decreasing), ‘from above’ (the oldest part of the population is increasing), and decrease of the young working-age population. The analysis of ageing in Lithuania in the context of the EU revealed that Lithuania has moved from the group of the demographically youngest countries to the group of the oldest ones. This has happened in one decade and illustrates rapid ageing in Lithuania. Within such context, the question “Who should be responsible for the elderly care?” is of particular importance. Based on the second wave of the Generations and Gender Survey (conducted in 2009), the responses who should take care of the elderly are contradictory. The biggest part of respondents is in favour of the division of responsibilities for the elderly care between family and society. The same part of respondents considers this to be family responsibility. Meanwhile, financial support is mainly considered to be the responsibility of the society. The analysis of filial responsibilities for elderly parents revealed a high level of normative solidarity. Most respondents agree with the statement where the support type for elderly parents is not defined (i.e. that children should take responsibility for caring for their parents when parents are in need). When the types of support are defined, the respondents are also likely to agree (i.e. children ought to provide financial help for their parents when their parents are having financial difficulties; children should have their parents to live with them when parents can no longer look after themselves). Less agreement was found on the statement requiring the reorganisation of children’s lives in order to fulfil filial responsibilities (i.e. that children should adjust their working lives to the needs of their parents) and on the statement measuring gender division in care provision for elderly parents (i.e. when parents are in need, daughters should take more caring responsibility than sons). The differences in attitudes between children’s, parents’ and grandparents’ generations were not statistically significant. The logistic regressions revealed that significant predictors enhancing the chances of agreement on filial responsibilities are respondents’ gender, age, partnership and occupational statuses and type of residential area.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Fang Jin ◽  
Zhongying Hu

<p>China has entered the new normal of the elderly society, and the aging population has a great impact on China's economic and social development. How to solve the dilemma of "one ticket is hard to get" in the elderly education and innovate and develop the elderly education is an important part of the modernization of education, which is related to the overall situation of building a well-off society at a high level. Taking Wenzhou as an example, this paper constructs a senior education mode of "general school + basic level + network", promotes the vigorous development of local senior education, and refines the school running experience of "separation of management and management, integration of resources, and professional guidance", which is the proper path for the innovative development of senior education, and has certain reference significance for the development of senior education in all parts of China.</p>


Kardiologiia ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 60 (5) ◽  
pp. 128-135
Author(s):  
O. N. Tkacheva ◽  
Yu. V. Kotovskaya ◽  
K. A. Eruslanova

A hypertensive crisis is a sudden increase in blood pressure (BP) to an individually high level associated with clinical symptoms and target organ damage, in which BP must be reduced immediately. Since 2018 in Europe and since 2020 in Russia, an uncomplicated hypertensive crisis is recommended to be considered as a part of malignant (uncontrolled) arterial hypertension. The clinical picture of increased BP in elderly patients is characterized by nonspecific symptoms even in target organ damage. Management of this group of patients requires a physician to know the patient’s comorbidities and the drugs taken on a regular basis to minimize development of side effects of the administered drugs and their undesirable interaction with the chronic therapy.


2010 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 145-165
Author(s):  
Karen Ahlquist

Like many midwestern cities in the nineteenth century, Cincinnati, Ohio, was home to large numbers of German immigrant musicians, among them the founders of the Cincinnati Grand Orchestra in 1872. Their model of musician-based organization eventually ran counter to the prestige-building potential of Western art music, which made it attractive to local civic leaders determined to earn respect for their city at a national level. The successful Cincinnati May festivals beginning in 1873 under the artistic leadership of conductor Theodore Thomas brought the city the desired renown. But the musical monumentality needed for large festival performances could not be obtained locally, leaving Cincinnati's players with opportunities to perform at a high level but without a way to define their performance as a significant achievement in the world of high art. Although their orchestra was ultimately unsuccessful, however, these musicians demonstrated an agency that transcends their historical obscurity and helps incorporate aesthetic and practical aspects of institution-building into the social arguments common to discussions of Western art music in the United States.


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