Abstract Background One of the most problematic expression of ageing is frailty, and an approach based on its early identification is mandatory. The Sunfrail-tool (ST), a 9-item questionnaire, is a promising instrument for screening frailty. Aims • To assess the diagnostic accuracy and the construct validity between the ST and a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment (CGA), composed by six tests representative of the bio-psycho-social model of frailty; • To verify the discriminating power of five key-questions of the ST; • To investigate the role of the ST in a clinical-pathway of falls’ prevention. Methods In this retrospective study, we enrolled 235 patients from the Frailty-Multimorbidity Lab of the University-Hospital of Parma. The STs’ answers were obtained from the patient’s clinical information. A patient was considered frail if at least one of the CGAs’ tests resulted positive. Results The ST was associated with the CGA’s judgement with an Area Under the Curve of 0.691 (CI 95%: 0.591–0.791). Each CGA’s test was associated with the ST total score. The five key-question showed a potential discriminating power in the CGA’s tests of the corresponding domains. The fall-related question of the ST was significantly associated with the Short Physical Performance Battery total score (OR: 0.839, CI 95%: 0.766–0.918), a proxy of the risk of falling. Discussion The results suggest that the ST can capture the complexity of frailty. The ST showed a good discriminating power, and it can guide a second-level assessment to key frailty domains and/or clinical pathways. Conclusions The ST is a valid and easy-to-use instrument for the screening of frailty.
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Background: Both the Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB) and daily life gait quality and quantity obtained from wearable sensors are used to measure functional status in older adults. It is generally assumed that they are interrelated and exchangeable, but this has not yet been established. Interchangeability of these measures would pave the way for remote monitoring of functional status.Research Question: Are the SPPB and daily life gait quality and quantity measures correlated in community-dwelling older adults?Methods: The SPPB and gait quality and quantity data of 229 community-dwelling adults of 65 years or older were collected. The SPPB is a combined score of the Three Stage Balance test, Four Meter Walk test, and Five Times Sit to Stand test and ranges from 0 to 12. Participants wore a tri-axial inertial sensor for one week to assess gait quality (e.g. gait stability and smoothness) and quantity (e.g. number of strides). Correlation coefficients between SPPB scores and gait quality and quantity measures were assessed using Spearman's correlation.Results: The median age of the study population was 76.2 years (IQR 72.6-81.0), and 76 % were women (n=175). The median SPPB score was 10 (IQR 8-11). Spearman's correlation coefficients between the SPPB and gait quality and quantity measures were all below 0.3.Significance: A possible explanation for the observed weak correlations is that the SPPB reflects one's maximal capacity, while gait quality and quantity reflect the submaximal performance in daily life. The SPPB and gait quality and quantity seem therefore distinct constructs with complementary value, rather than interchangeable. A more comprehensive understanding of functional status might be achieved by combining the SPPB assessment of standardized activities with the evaluation of inertial sensor measurements obtained during daily life activities.
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In the road transportation sector, CO2 emission target is set to reduce by at least 45% by 2030 as per the European Green Deal. Heavy Duty Vehicles contribute almost quarter of greenhouse gas emissions from road transport in Europe and drive majorly on fossil fuels. New emission restrictions creates a need for transition towards reduced emission targets. Also, increasing number of emission free zones within Europe, give rise to the need of hybridization within the truck and trailer community. Currently, in majority of the cases the trailer units do not possess any kind of drivetrain to support the truck. Trailers carry high loads, such that while accelerating, high power is needed. On the other hand, while braking the kinetic energy is lost, which otherwise could be recaptured. Thus, having a trailer with electric powertrain can support the truck during traction and can charge the battery during braking, helping in reducing the emissions and fuel consumption. Using the King-pin, the amount of support required by trailer can be determined, making it an independent trailer, thus requiring no modification on the truck. Given the heavy-duty environment in which the King-pin operates, the measurement design around it should be robust, compact and measure forces within certain accuracy level. Moreover, modification done to the King-pin is not apricated. These are also the challenges faced by V-Tron, a leading company in the field of services in mobility domain. The goal of this project is to design a smart King-pin, which is robust, compact and provides force component measurement within certain accuracy, to the independent e-trailer, without taking input from truck, and investigate the energy management system of the independent e-trailer to explore the charging options. As a result, this can help reduce the emissions and fuel consumption.
Based on the model outcomes, Houtlaan’s energy transition will likely result in congestion and curtailmentproblems on the local electricity grid within the next 5-7 years, possibly sooner if load imbalance between phasesis not properly addressed.During simulations, the issue of curtailment was observed in significant quantities on one cable, resulting in aloss of 8.292 kWh of PV production per year in 2030. This issue could be addressed by moving some of thehouses on the affects cable to a neighboring under-utilized cable, or by installing a battery system near the end ofthe affected cable. Due to the layout of the grid, moving the last 7 houses on the affected cable to the neighboringcable should be relatively simple and cost-effective, and help to alleviate issues of curtailment.During simulations, the issue of grid overloading occurred largely as a result of EV charging. This issue can bestbe addressed by regulating EV charging. Based on current statistics, the bulk of EV charging is expected to occurin the early evening. By prolonging these charge cycles into the night and early morning, grid overloading canlikely be prevented for the coming decade. However, such a control system will require some sort of infrastructureto coordinate the different EV charge cycles or will require smart EV chargers which will charge preferentiallywhen the grid voltage is above a certain threshold (i.e., has more capacity available).A community battery system can be used to increase the local consumption of produced electricity within theneighborhood. Such a system can also be complemented by charging EV during surplus production hours.However, due to the relatively high cost of batteries at present, and losses due to inefficiencies, such a systemwill not be financially feasible without some form of subsidy and/or unless it can provide an energy service whichthe grid operator is willing to pay for (e.g. regulating power quality or line voltage, prolonging the lifetime of gridinfrastructure, etc.).A community battery may be most useful as a temporary solution when problems on the grid begin to occur, untila more cost-effective solution can be implemented (e.g. reinforcing the grid, implementing an EV charge controlsystem). Once a more permanent solution is implemented, the battery could then be re-used elsewhere.The neighborhood of Houtlaan in Assen, the Netherlands, has ambitious targets for reducing the neighborhood’scarbon emissions and increasing their production of their own, sustainable energy. Specifically, they wish toincrease the percentage of houses with a heat pump, electric vehicle (EV) and solar panels (PV) to 60%, 70%and 80%, respectively, by the year 2030. However, it was unclear what the impacts of this transition would be onthe electricity grid, and what limitations or problems might be encountered along the way.Therefore, a study was carried out to model the future energy load and production patterns in Houtlaan. Thepurpose of the model was to identify and quantify the problems which could be encountered if no steps are takento prevent these problems. In addition, the model was used to simulate the effectiveness of various proposedsolutions to reduce or eliminate the problems which were identified
Electrohydrodynamic Atomization (EHDA), also known as Electrospray (ES), is a technology which uses strong electric fields to manipulate liquid atomization. Among many other areas, electrospray is used as an important tool for biomedical application (droplet encapsulation), water technology (thermal desalination and metal recovery) and material sciences (nanofibers and nano spheres fabrication, metal recovery, selective membranes and batteries). A complete review about the particularities of this tool and its application was recently published (2018), as an especial edition of the Journal of Aerosol Sciences. One of the main known bottlenecks of this technique, it is the fact that the necessary strong electric fields create a risk for electric discharges. Such discharges destabilize the process but can also be an explosion risk depending on the application. The goal of this project is to develop a reliable tool to prevent discharges in electrospray applications.
