Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Development of a Sensorized Hybrid Gripper to Evaluate Grasping Quality

Various soft grippers based on the soft pneumatic actuators (SPAs) have been studied actively since it offers pliable bending motion, inherent compliance, and a simple morphological structure. For improved functionality or feedback control, embedding sensors to SPAs has also been studied vigorously. However, evaluating grasping quality of the gripper with the embedded sensor has rarely been studied even if the stable grasping is significant in robotic manipulation. Thus, in this study, we developed a sensorized hybrid gripper which embeds a commercial bending sensor and a customized tactile sensor, and the grasping quality based on the largest-minimum wrench (LMW), which evaluate the contact wrenches, was calculated. The grasping quality metrics with two different grips were compared experimentally.
Prediction in Intelligence: An Empirical Comparison of Off-policy Algorithms on Robots

The ability to continually make predictions about the world may be central to intelligence. Off-policy learning and general value functions (GVFs) are well-established algorithmic techniques for learning about many signals while interacting with the world. In the past couple of years, many ambitious works have used off-policy GVF learning to improve control performance in both simulation and robotic control tasks. Many of these works use semi-gradient temporal-difference (TD) learning algorithms, like Q-learning, which are potentially divergent. In the last decade, several TD learning algorithms have been proposed that are convergent and computationally efficient, but not much is known about how they perform in practice, especially on robots. In this work, we perform an empirical comparison of modern off-policy GVF learning algorithms on three different robot platforms, providing insights into their strengths and weaknesses. We also discuss the challenges of conducting fair comparative studies of off-policy learning on robots and develop a new evaluation methodology that is successful and applicable to a relatively complicated robot domain.
Isolation, Sequencing, and Characterization of the Cytochrome bo Operon from Vitreoscilla

The entire operon encoding the sodium pumping cytochrome bo from the bacterium Vitreoscilla was isolated and sequenced, and this sequence was analyzed by blast and hydropathy plots. There are fairly similar phylogenetic relationships which apply to all five proteins, but overall greater similarity to members of the gamma subdivision than the beta subdivision of the Proteobacteria. Hydropathy plots of all five Cyo proteins show near identity with those of the corresponding E. coli subunits, indicating that the similarity extends from sequence to structure. The operon appears to have a typical Shine-Dalgarno sequence, an E. coli -like promoter, and several possible binding sites for regulatory proteins. The Vitreoscilla Cyo B subunit (the probable Na + pump) is almost identical to E. coli Cyo B at 18 key amino acids; thus, there are no obvious changes in Vitreoscilla Cyo B that hint at the details of its Na + pumping ability.
Robotic navigation shows superior improvement in efficiency for atrial fibrillation ablation.

Background Because of the expanding atrial fibrillation (AF) burden, AF catheter ablation (CA) techniques have to become more efficient. Efficient AF CA procedures are characterized by successful pulmonary vein isolation (PVI) within reasonable procedure time. Currently there are many PVI techniques available and all show substantial improvements over time. However, the magnitude of improvement in procedural efficiency has not yet been compared between different techniques. The aim of this study was to compare efficiency improvement between manually (MAN) guided, cryoballoon (CB) and remote magnetic navigation (RMN) guided PVI. Methods A total of 221 patients were included in this retrospective study. Procedural parameters of 115 patients treated with first-generation PVI techniques (MAN-1, CB-1, RMN-1) performed in 2010, were compared to 106 patients who were treated with the latest, second generation techniques (MAN-2, CB-2, RMN-2). Efficiency was characterized by the following parameters: total ablation time, total procedure time, first pass isolation (FPI) (i.e. successful isolation after the first pulmonary vein (PV) encirclement) and touch-up rates. Results Every technique showed significant improvement of procedure times from the first to the second generation (P<0.001). In-between second generation techniques, the procedure times were comparable. The greatest magnitude of procedure time improvement was observed within the RMN groups (∆-180min), which was significantly greater compared to CB (∆-48 min, P<0.001) and MAN (∆-98min, P=0.011) groups. The highest FPI rates were observed in RMN-2 (78% and 74%; left and right PVs respectively), which was significantly higher compared to other techniques (MAN-2: 24% and 24%; CB-2: 50% and 48%; P<0.001). Conclusions The highest magnitude of efficiency improvement was detected in RMN guided PVI.
Skinflow: A soft robotic skin based on fluidic transmission

In this paper we present Skinflow, a novel soft robotic sensor based on liquid transmission. The sensor combines liquid filled soft silicone chambers and optical sensors to measure pressure, bending and vibration. When mechanically stimulated, the volume of the chambers changes and this change is transmitted to a display cell by an incompressible, coloured liquid. The displacement of the liquid in the channels is captured by a CCD camera and is quantified by image processing algorithms. We present three implementations of this concept. The first device is a soft button array with four pressure sensitive buttons. The second implementation is a three-dimensional soft touchpad, that consists of two sensor layers oriented at 90° to each other. Both layers have eight macrochannels that are filled with coloured liquid. The sensor is able to measure the position and the intensity of the touch. Finally, the third device shows how the processing unit for the proposed liquid filled sensors can be integrated using a smart vision camera and a microcontroller. Three soft bend sensors are connected to the processing unit and we control the brightness of three light emitting diodes (LEDs) in realtime by bending them. The presented sensors are safe, low cost and scalable. They can be used in soft robots, smart homes and wearables as well as for medical diagnosis, especially where electronic devices cannot be used due to electromagnetic interference (e.g. magnetic resonance imaging).
A Decentralized Force Controller Synthesis for Compliant Robots Driven by Series Elastic Actuators

This paper deals with the decentralized force control problem of compliant robots driven by Series Elastic Actuators (SEAs). The decentralized force control problem of a compliant robot manipulator is transformed into the robust position control problem of a servo system by using Hooke's law and lumping the nonlinear dynamics and unknown disturbances of the robot manipulator into a fictitious disturbance variable. In order to precisely follow the reference force trajectories at joint space, i.e., the position trajectories of the servo systems, the robust controller is synthesized by using Disturbance Observer (DOb) and Sliding Mode Control (SMC). Although the robust force controller can be synthesized by using only SMC, the force control signal may suffer from high control signal chattering as the force reference input is increased. In addition to improving the robustness of force control, DOb significantly suppresses the discontinuous control signal chattering by allowing to decrease the SMC gain. When the proposed decentralized robust force controller is implemented, the compliant robot can precisely track desired force trajectories and safely contact to different environments. The validity of the proposed force controller is verified by giving the simulation results of a redundant robot manipulator.
Multiple heparanases are expressed in polymorphonuclear cells.

BACKGROUND Heparan sulfate proteoglycans are complex cell surface molecules containing polysaccharides called heparan sulfate. Lysosomes, platelet granules, and neutrophils (polymorphonuclear cells) contain heparanases that degrade heparan sulfate. There are at least two groups of heparanases: connective tissue-activating-peptide (CTAP-III) and mammalian heparanase (hpa). The purpose of this study was to quantify the expression of both CTAP-III and hpa in neutrophils and their heparanase activity. MATERIALS AND METHODS Neutrophils were isolated from whole blood, total RNA collected, and reverse transcriptase--polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) performed. Primers were designed for CTAP-III and hpa-1 sequences from GenBank. Neutrophil lysate underwent Western blot analysis (and quantification) with antibodies to the C-terminus of CTAP-III and the 50-kDa subunit of hpa1. Chromatography separated these components of lysate, which were then tested for heparanase activity. RESULTS Both CTAP-III (281 bp) and hpa-1 (485 bp) messenger RNA (mRNA) were expressed equally by neutrophils with use of quantitative RT-PCR. By Western blot analysis, a CTAP-III-like protein was detected at 80 kDa, and hpa-1 was detected as a 50-kDa protein, with expression not significantly different (P > 0.05). Heparanase activity was significantly different (P < 0.0001) for the 50-kDa hpa-1 protein (1.51 x 10(-6) micromol/min) and the 80-kDa CTAP-III-like protein (0.85 x 10(-6) micromol/min). CONCLUSIONS Human neutrophils express mRNA and protein for both a CTAP-III-like protein and hpa-1. Although expressed in similar quantity for mRNA and protein, Hpa-1 was more active as heparanase than the CTAP-III-like protein. With more than one class of heparanase in their granules, neutrophils may be able to modify different kinds of heparan sulfate chains.
What is the prevalence, and what are the clinical correlates, of insulin resistance in young people presenting for mental health care? A cross-sectional study

Objectives To report the distribution and predictors of insulin resistance (IR) in young people presenting to primary care-based mental health services. Design Cross-sectional. Setting Headspace-linked clinics operated by the Brain and Mind Centre of the University of Sydney. Participants 768 young people (66% female, mean age 19.7±3.5, range 12–30 years). Main outcome measures IR was estimated using the updated homeostatic model assessment (HOMA2-IR). Height and weight were collected from direct measurement or self-report for body mass index (BMI). Results For BMI, 20.6% of the cohort were overweight and 10.2% were obese. However, <1% had an abnormally high fasting blood glucose (>6.9 mmol/L). By contrast, 9.9% had a HOMA2-IR score >2.0 (suggesting development of IR) and 11.7% (n=90) had a score between 1.5 and 2. Further, there was a positive correlation between BMI and HOMA2-IR (r=0.44, p<0.001). Participants in the upper third of HOMA2-IR scores are characterised by younger age, higher BMIs and depression as a primary diagnosis. HOMA2-IR was predicted by younger age (β=0.19, p<0.001) and higher BMI (β=0.49, p<0.001), together explaining 22% of the variance (F(2,361)=52.1, p<0.001). Conclusions Emerging IR is evident in a significant subgroup of young people presenting to primary care-based mental health services. While the major modifiable risk factor is BMI, a large proportion of the variance is not accounted for by other demographic, clinical or treatment factors. Given the early emergence of IR, secondary prevention interventions may need to commence prior to the development of full-threshold or major mood or psychotic disorders.
Assessing Eating Behaviour Using Upper Limb Mounted Motion Sensors: A Systematic Review

Wearable motion tracking sensors are now widely used to monitor physical activity, and have recently gained more attention in dietary monitoring research. The aim of this review is to synthesise research to date that utilises upper limb motion tracking sensors, either individually or in combination with other technologies (e.g., cameras, microphones), to objectively assess eating behaviour. Eleven electronic databases were searched in January 2019, and 653 distinct records were obtained. Including 10 studies found in backward and forward searches, a total of 69 studies met the inclusion criteria, with 28 published since 2017. Fifty studies were conducted exclusively in laboratory settings, 13 exclusively in free-living settings, and three in both settings. The most commonly used motion sensor was an accelerometer (64) worn on the wrist (60) or lower arm (5), while in most studies (45), accelerometers were used in combination with gyroscopes. Twenty-six studies used commercial-grade smartwatches or fitness bands, 11 used professional grade devices, and 32 used standalone sensor chipsets. The most used machine learning approaches were Support Vector Machine (SVM, n = 21), Random Forest (n = 19), Decision Tree (n = 16), Hidden Markov Model (HMM, n = 10) algorithms, and from 2017 Deep Learning (n = 5). While comparisons of the detection models are not valid due to the use of different datasets, the models that consider the sequential context of data across time, such as HMM and Deep Learning, show promising results for eating activity detection. We discuss opportunities for future research and emerging applications in the context of dietary assessment and monitoring.
The molecular mechanism study of insulin on proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts under high glucose conditions

To explore the molecular mechanism of insulin on proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3‐E1 cell under high glucose conditions. We first investigated the effect of different concentrations of insulin on the osteoblast cell proliferation and cell differentiation at various time points by MTT analysis, cell cycle analysis, and expression detection of differentiation genes. Then, we used 200 ng/mL of insulin to treat the osteoblast cell at different time points for identifying the common differentially expressed mRNAs among various time points by RNA sequencing. Thirdly, we performed the gene ontology (GO) and the Kyoto Encyclopaedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis to explore the biological function of these common differentially expressed mRNAs. The results showed that insulin promoted the cell proliferation and differentiation of osteoblast cell. In RNA sequencing, a total of 31 common differentially expressed mRNAs were identified between different time points. Mt1, Tmem135, Avp, and Dlg2 were found to be associated with the new bone formation. In addition, three important signalling pathways, namely, lysosome, glutamatergic synapse, and chemokine signalling pathways, were found in the KEGG enrichment analysis. Our work demonstrated that insulin could promote the osteoblast cell proliferation and cell differentiation, which may play a key role in bone formation.
The influence of substance use on the effectiveness of antipsychotic medication: a prospective, pragmatic study

Abstract Background: Psychosis is associated with a high prevalence of substance use, leading to worsened prognosis. Less is known about how comorbid substance abuse may influence the effectiveness of antipsychotic medications. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of second generation antipsychotics in patients with psychosis with and without substance use. Methods: All patients (n = 226) were aged >18 years old had symptom level scores of ≥4 on selected psychosis items on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and met ICD-10 diagnostic criteria for psychosis. Information on substance use was collected based on the Clinician Drug Use Scale. Patients were grouped at baseline according to the presence of substance use, medication history and diagnosis group. Clinical symptoms at baseline and changes at follow-up were assessed with the PANSS. Results: At baseline about 30% of the patients used substances, most frequently cannabis followed by methamphetamine. About half (47%) of the patients had no prior exposure to antipsychotic medication at inclusion. Patients who had consumed substances showed no substantial differences in the PANSS score reduction as a result of antipsychotic medication compared to patients without substance. There were, however, some group differences in relation to pattern of change that were influenced by medication history. Substance use was found to be related to stronger reduction of positive symptoms from week 4 to week 27. Conclusion: Substance use alone did not influence antipsychotic effectiveness in this sample of patients with psychosis.
The discrete periodic Radon transform

In this correspondence, a discrete periodic Radon transform and its inversion are developed. The new discrete periodic Radon transform possesses many properties similar to the continuous Radon transform such as the Fourier slice theorem and the convolution property, etc. With the convolution property, a 2-D circular convolution can be decomposed into 1-D circular convolutions, hence improving the computational efficiency. Based on the proposed discrete periodic Radon transform, we further develop the inversion formula using the discrete Fourier slice theorem. It is interesting to note that the inverse transform is multiplication free. This important characteristic not only enables fast inversion but also eliminates the finite-word-length error that may be generated in performing the multiplications.
Nonprofit Hospital Community Benefit Spending and Readmission Rates.

Addressing social determinants of health may help hospitals improve population health and outcomes that are tied to financial incentives, such as readmission rates. Whether this strategy is effective remains unknown. The authors measure the association between nonprofit hospital spending on their community's social needs and Medicare readmission rates. This is a retrospective cohort study (July 2013 to June 2014) that combines Internal Revenue Service tax reports of community benefit spending by private, acute care, nonprofit hospitals with Medicare readmissions data for residents of their surrounding community, the hospital's zip code. Total community benefit spending and 2 of the largest subsets of spending-health care-related and community-directed spending-were measured and normalized as the proportion of each hospital's total expenditure. Associations between quintiles of community benefit spending and Medicare readmission rates were measured using discharge-level multivariate linear regression, adjusting for patient, hospital, community characteristics, and local public health department spending. The sample consisted of 1405 nonprofit hospitals with 341,913 discharges. Associations between readmission rates and total community benefit spending and the health care-related subset were not statistically significant. Discharges from hospitals in the upper quintiles of community-directed spending were associated with lower readmission rates by 0.82 to 1.21 absolute percentage points (P = 0.01 to <0.001) compared to the lowest quintile. The magnitude of associations between community-directed spending and readmissions was larger for preventable readmissions and smaller when including beneficiaries beyond the hospital's zip code. These associations suggest that community-directed spending may be associated with better health care outcomes.
Simultaneous Bilateral Same-Day Endoscopic Myringoplasty Using Tragal Cartilage From One Ear

The aim of this study is to investigate the outcomes of bilateral same-day endoscopic myringoplasty using tragal cartilage from one ear in patients with bilateral chronic otitis media. In this retrospective study, medical records of 62 (84 ears) patients aged between 18 and 65 years who underwent endoscopic myringoplasty at our center between January 2015 and December 2017 were evaluated. Patients were classified into 2 groups according to surgical procedure they received: unilateral myringoplasty (group 1) and bilateral same-day myringoplasty (group 2). The comparisons were made between groups in terms of anatomical graft success and functional outcomes. There were 40 patients in the unilateral group (group 1) and 22 patients in the bilateral same-day group (group 2). The graft success rates were 92.5% and 93.2% for groups 1 and 2, respectively (P = .904). The mean preoperative air–bone gaps (ABGs) were 21.1 ± 7.1 and 20.5 ± 6.7 dB, respectively, whereas the mean postoperative ABGs were 8.1 ± 2.7 dB and 7.9 ± 3.0 dB, respectively. The difference between pre- and postoperative ABGs for the entire group was statistically significant (P < .001). Mean hearing gain was 12.5 ± 11.0 dB and 15.6 ± 10.1 dB in groups 1 and 2, respectively, (P = .183). Postoperative ABG was ≤10 dB in 33 (82.5%) and 36 (81.8%) ears in groups 1 and 2, respectively. The functional success rates were similar in both groups (P = .582). The average lengths of operation time were 61.6 ± 12.5 minutes and 110.1 ± 25.2 minutes for groups 1 and 2, respectively. Bilateral same-day endoscopic myringoplasty using tragal cartilage from one ear seems to be a safe and satisfactory procedure with a good satisfactory success rate.
Design of a Bioinspired Variable Stiffness Sensor

This paper serves as an introduction to the design of force sensor systems with variable stiffness based on sinus hairs or vibrissae. Vibrissae are a biological role model to detect different mechanical surface characteristics with high adaptive abilities. The main purpose of this work is to present the design and control of a variable stiffness sensor system (VSS) in contact to a surface. Results include the performance of linear and nonlinear one degree of freedom (DOF) system models as well as a proposal of a mechanic variable stiffness control for future developments.
Optimization of the Modulation Sequence and Proposing an Overlap Technique for Current Source Inverter

Usually, power converters are used to deliver renewable energy to the grid. The operation of these converters greatly impacts the power quality and reliability of the power system. Hence, more attention should be paid to the performance of such power electronic systems. Being one of these converters, current source inverter (CSI) operation is influenced by the overlap period (OLP) that is included in its pulse-train to prevent voltage spikes. The OLP results in waveform distortions and vector deviation error. This study proposes an overlap technique and optimizes the modulation sequence that reduced the effect of OLP remarkably. The ampere-second analysis of the dwell times of the modulation vectors is provided, the resulted error expressions are derived. Hardware prototype is being implemented in the lab and a sample of the results are provided.