Varela Aldas, José
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Varela Aldas, José
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Ambato
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josevarela@uti.edu.ec
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57192546163

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Effects of a dual intervention (motor and virtual reality-based cognitive) on cognition in patients with mild cognitive impairment: a single-blind, randomized controlled trial

2024 , Buele, Jorge , Avilés-Castillo, Fátima , Carolina Del-Valle-Soto , Varela Aldas, José , Guillermo Palacios-Navarro

Abstract Background The increase in cases of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) underlines the urgency of finding effective methods to slow its progression. Given the limited effectiveness of current pharmacological options to prevent or treat the early stages of this deterioration, non-pharmacological alternatives are especially relevant. Objective To assess the effectiveness of a cognitive-motor intervention based on immersive virtual reality (VR) that simulates an activity of daily living (ADL) on cognitive functions and its impact on depression and the ability to perform such activities in patients with MCI. Methods Thirty-four older adults (men, women) with MCI were randomized to the experimental group (n = 17; 75.41 ± 5.76) or control (n = 17; 77.35 ± 6.75) group. Both groups received motor training, through aerobic, balance and resistance activities in group. Subsequently, the experimental group received cognitive training based on VR, while the control group received traditional cognitive training. Cognitive functions, depression, and the ability to perform activities of daily living (ADLs) were assessed using the Spanish versions of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA-S), the Short Geriatric Depression Scale (SGDS-S), and the of Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL-S) before and after 6-week intervention (a total of twelve 40-minutes sessions). Results Between groups comparison did not reveal significant differences in either cognitive function or geriatric depression. The intragroup effect of cognitive function and geriatric depression was significant in both groups (p < 0.001), with large effect sizes. There was no statistically significant improvement in any of the groups when evaluating their performance in ADLs (control, p = 0.28; experimental, p = 0.46) as expected. The completion rate in the experimental group was higher (82.35%) compared to the control group (70.59%). Likewise, participants in the experimental group reached a higher level of difficulty in the application and needed less time to complete the task at each level. Conclusions The application of a dual intervention, through motor training prior to a cognitive task based on Immersive VR was shown to be a beneficial non-pharmacological strategy to improve cognitive functions and reduce depression in patients with MCI. Similarly, the control group benefited from such dual intervention with statistically significant improvements. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06313931; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT06313931.

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Immersive virtual reality app to promote healthy eating in children

2020 , Fuentes E.M. , Varela Aldas, José , Palacios-Navarro G. , García-Magariño I.

An immersive virtual reality application was developed as a serious game to support children on their decisions about food, the system was composed by the Gear VR (Viewer and controller), and a phone which contains the mobile application developed in Unity, providing the immersive environment, the platform was based on a path where the player has to go through it choosing between different sort of meals and also between different physical activities, the effect of balanced diet plus adequate physical activity seems reflected on the avatar previously chosen by the user, the app was tested on 12 children between 8 and 10 years old during one week, children participated on the study after receiving an informed consent, analyzing the tendencies of food choice on children before and after, a notorious positive effect could be seen on the users according to the avatar analyzed at the end of the round, besides a System usability ore was also applied to evaluate the degree of usability of the app, reaching a ore of 88.33% which rates the app as very usable, this results were even better than what was planned at the beginning of the experience. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.

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Optimal cooperative control of mobile robots based on Pontryagin's Minimum Principle

2022 , Varela Aldas, José

This work presents the cooperative control with optimization for positioning of mobile robots based on Pontryagin's Minimum Principle. The problem to be solved is the minimum energy related to the control actions of the robots. The objective function is subject to the equations of states of the triangular formation of the 3 mobile robots and is restricted to boundary conditions that include the desired form parameters. The mathematical model of the system is based on the kinematic transformation of the position of the robots towards the parameters of the formation. To solve the differential equations obtained, the shooting method is programmed for two initial value problems. The results show the evolution of the robots' positions and the positioning errors that tend to zero, validating this proposal through simulation. In addition, the control actions allow determining the energy index to compare it with a previous work, achieving a lower value. © 2022 IEEE.

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Teleoperation of a mobile manipulator with feedback forces for evasion of obstacles [Teleoperación de un manipulador móvil con retroalimentación de fuerzas para evasión de obstáculos]

2019 , Andaluz V.H. , Varela Aldas, José , Chicaiza F.A. , Quevedo W.X. , Ruales, María Belén

This work develops the teleoperation of a mobile manipulator using a kinematic and dynamic control. In addition, the operator receives feedback forces through a haptic device to evade obstacles. The experiments were performed in a local wireless communication network and using the AKASHA robot. The results show an adequate following of the references of control, speed errors are corrected with minimum communication delays. © 2019, Associacao Iberica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informacao. All rights reserved.

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Anthropization and growth of the electricity grid as variables for the analysis of urban infrastructure

2020 , Ayala-Chauvin, Manuel Ignacio , Huaraca D. , Varela Aldas, José , Ordóñez A. , Riba G.

City growth goes together with the development of infrastructure, and the power network is one of the most relevant towards economic development. The study of urban infrastructure through the analysis of anthropization coupled with power network growth can produce a tool that supports sustainable infrastructure planning, both economic and environmental. The case study focuses on Ambato, Ecuador, in the period from 1950 to 2019, and assesses quantitatively the changes in the city layout and the evolution of its power network. The data are adjusted to a sigmoid-type objective function through a non-linear least squares problem, that is solved using the Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno (BFGS) method. Anthropization data show how the urban area grew during the study period: 37% (1950-1960), 53% (1960-1970), 80% (1970-1980), 35% (1980-1990), 39% (1990-2000), 38% (2000-2010), and 11% (2010-2019), mostly at the expense of agricultural land. The forecast for new power network users by 2050 yields a result of 203,630 total users with a population density of 4850 people/km2. The conclusion is that this type of analysis can help city planners and decision makers further understand city and infrastructure growth dynamics and produce policies that bolster sustainable city growth. © 2020 by the authors.

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Immersive virtual reality app for mild cognitive impairment

2019 , Varela Aldas, José , Palacios-Navarro G. , García-Magariño I.

A characteristic symptom of neurodegenerative diseases is the deterioration of the memory. These problems usually worsen with the progression of the disease, being the cognitive rehabilitation an important tool in order to slow down the progress of the disease in the patient. This work presents the development of a mobile virtual reality application through a serious game to boost the memory by solving mazes in three levels of difficulty. The application uses the Gear VR glasses to provide the user with an immersive experience. The results present the proposed application, showing the components of the virtual environment. © 2019, Associacao Iberica de Sistemas e Tecnologias de Informacao. All rights reserved.

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A comparison in the teaching of programming for development kits with IoT

2022 , Varela Aldas, José , Miranda M. , Palacios-Navarro G.

Education 4.0 promotes programming at all training levels, making block programming a compatible alternative, including developing applications with hardware. This paper compares UIFLOW and Arduino IDE in programming the M5Stack Core2 development kit for education. The designed task allows students to read, locally view, send, and remotely view the inertial sensor data integrated into the device. The programming in UIFLOW application uses block programming; this software is for the M5stack kits. To program in C code using Arduino IDE is need to install the necessary libraries for compatibility with M5Stack. Students of computer science engineering implement the program using both programming languages. The compared data are development times and acceptance of the participants. The results show the coding times of the program and the scores obtained in the acceptance test, determining faster times in the case of block programming and a better acceptance rate that demonstrates the advantages of using this language in programming education. © 2022 IEEE.

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Development of a Scale Prototype of Smart Bed Controlled Using a Mobile Application

2022 , Soberon J.C. , Gamboa G. , Castillo F. , Palacios-Navarro G. , Varela Aldas, José

The need for a technological system for health care for sick people is evident. This work develops a scale prototype of a smart bed controlled through a mobile application. The electronic design consists of two servomotors that act to position the bed; these actions can be activated through the mobile application. At the same time, the patient can be monitored by a camera and an infrared thermometer that sends the data to the application through the Internet. The local operating code is designed so that the position of the bed changes automatically according to a preset sequence. The electronic system is based on the ESP32 board; this chip integrates WiFi communication that allows the connection of the bed with the cloud-based in Firebase. Temperature tests were carried out with the help of people to ensure that the data taken was correct. In addition, bed positions and reception of camera images were tested on a mannequin. As a result, adequate communication was obtained between the mobile application and all the devices installed in the smart bed. Finally, an acceptance test is applied that validates this proposal with a good score. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Mobile Manipulator for Hospital Care Using Firebase

2022 , Varela Aldas, José , Buele, Jorge , Guerrero-Núñez S , Andaluz V.H.

The COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the use of the technology in medicine is no longer a luxury, but a necessity. The use of the robotics in the treatment of diseases and physical therapies is limited in Latin America due to the high acquisition and maintenance costs. This document proposes the design, development, and evaluation of a robotic system for the guided monitoring of patients, through remote control using a mobile application. Within the methodology, four phases were proposed: planning, design, development, and evaluation. The 3D design is done using the Tinkercad software, which facilitates the construction of the pieces using 3D printing technology. The ESP32 board is the main element that receives the signals from the sensors and controls the actions of the actuators through the orders received from Firebase. For the development of the application, App inventor is used, building a friendly and easy-to-use interface. To validate this proposal, experimental tests were carried out with two patients in a medical center. In addition, a parameter compliance questionnaire was applied to the robot, obtaining a score of 92.6%, and the mobile application obtained 72.5% in the usability test. All this confirms an efficient care proposal, with a reduced investment. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

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Temperature control system with hysteresis for drying oven using IoT

2023 , Bucay-Valdiviezo J. , Veronica-Ocana Parra S. , Saa F. , Varela Aldas, José

The fourth industrial revolution (Industry 4.0) spread to the whole world, improving all kinds of industrial processes. Thus, temperature control and monitoring of ovens through the Internet of Things (IoT) is part of this technology, especially in the automotive industry. In this work, the temperature control with hysteresis of a drying oven is carried out incorporating the IoT, with the objective of maintaining the temperature within a certain range in the drying process inside an oven. For this, a thermocouple, heat lamps, couplers and an electronic board are used. The temperature data from the drying oven is sent to the internet via WiFi using a router. The oven temperature data is recorded in the cloud for its respective subsequent analysis using the ThingSpeak services. For the results, the temperature is configured in the range of 50 ° C to 70 ° C that is monitored through a mobile application developed in App Inventor. The tests carried out demonstrate the proper functioning of the system and the high usability of the application. © 2023 IEEE.

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