Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Adaptive Obstacle Avoidance for a Class of Collaborative Robots

In a human–robot collaboration scenario, operator safety is the main problem and must be guaranteed under all conditions. Collision avoidance control techniques are essential to improve operator safety and robot flexibility by preventing impacts that can occur between the robot and humans or with objects inadvertently left within the operational workspace. On this basis, collision avoidance algorithms for moving obstacles are presented in this paper: inspired by algorithms already developed by the authors for planar manipulators, algorithms are adapted for the 6-DOF collaborative manipulators by Universal Robots, and some new contributions are introduced. First, in this work, the safety region wrapping each link of the manipulator assumes a cylindrical shape whose radius varies according to the speed of the colliding obstacle, so that dynamical obstacles are avoided with increased safety regions in order to reduce the risk, whereas fixed obstacles allow us to use smaller safety regions, facilitating the motion of the robot. In addition, three different modalities for the collision avoidance control law are proposed, which differ in the type of motion admitted for the perturbation of the end-effector: the general mode allows for a 6-DOF perturbation, but restrictions can be imposed on the orientation part of the avoidance motion using 4-DOF or 3-DOF modes. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the control strategy, simulations with dynamic and fixed obstacles are presented and discussed. Simulations are also used to estimate the required computational effort in order to verify the transferability to a real system.
luxS Gene and Biofilm Formation in Streptococcus uberis Isolated from Bovine Mastitis Cases

Background: Streptococcus uberis (S. uberis) is an environmental pathogen causing mastitis in Dairy cattle. It causes recurrent mastitis and reduction in milk production in livestock causing economic loss. The prevalence of S. uberis intramammary infections is due to ability of the organism to form biofilm in udder tissue. The present study is on in-vitro biofilm production, the correlation of luxS gene and the biofilm formation in S. uberis. Methods: A total of 91 mastitic milk samples were collected from cattle and buffaloes brought at Veterinary Hospitals and farms in Krishna, Guntur and West Godavari districts, Andhra Pradesh. The identification of the culture isolates was based on cultural and biochemical characteristics and confirmed by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR). The Streptococcus species cultures showing greyish, pinpointed colonies and/or aesculin hydrolysis on Edwards medium were further identified by various biochemical tests viz., catalase test, ninhydrin test, sodium hippurate hydrolysis test and type of haemolysis on 7% sheep blood agar. Confirmation of the isolates by PCR was followed by detection of biofilm formation using qualitative Congo red agar (CRA) method, quantitative microtiter plate (MTP) assay and biofilm gene (luxS) was detected using PCR.Conclusion: From this study it is suggestable that for biofilm study both phenotypic and genotypic methods should be taken together which can be influenced by various other factors also. MTP assay was a good choice for quantitative biofilm determination, which was giving a more accurate and understandable results. The results express that any of the isolates without luxS didn’t produce a strong biofilm and it is concluded that there may be other genes for regulation of biofilm production and/or luxS gene has a regulatory role for one or more genes related to biofilm formation in S. uberis.
How living and working in industrial zones affects health outcomes in Hanoi, Vietnam

ABSTRACT The national economic reform movement that began in 1986 in Vietnam, known as Doi Moi, included efforts to connect Vietnam to the global production chain, thereby encouraging more foreign investment in the country. These reforms led to rapid economic growth and urbanization, positioning modern day Vietnam as one of the fastest growing economies in Southeast Asia. By 2018, the Vietnamese national government had designated 326 industrial zones, attracting a total of US$41.8 billion worth of domestic capital and US$145 billion in foreign capital. This study evaluates the factors associated with health outcomes for industrial zone workers in Hanoi, Vietnam. Analyzing 501 surveys of industrial worker households living in informal sector housing in industrial zones, we examine demographic, socio-environmental, housing, and occupational factors in shaping physical and mental health outcomes. This is one of the first studies of informal housing in industrial zones in Vietnam which provides an exploratory analysis of how living and working environments in industrial zones affects the health of workers. Gender is one indicator that stands out as a robust and significant predictor of health outcomes. We find that women fare worse on all four measures of health outcomes in our study.
Nonlinearity-Induced Nonreciprocity—Part I

Nonreciprocal electromagnetic devices allow signals to propagate asymmetrically along opposite directions, enabling essential functionalities for several microwave and optical technologies. Branching out from the conventional approach involving a dc magnetic bias, different avenues have been investigated over the past two decades to break reciprocity without the need for magneto-optical materials. In particular, nonlinearity-based approaches have recently attracted considerable attention, due to their simple implementation and bias-free operation, which make their fabrication and system integration particularly appealing. Nonetheless, these advantages are accompanied by limitations that need to be carefully assessed when using these devices for practical applications. In the first part of this work, we discuss the fundamental principles of nonlinearity-based nonreciprocal devices. We introduce a general model for two-port nonlinear resonators and show how to design a nonlinear system yielding highly nonreciprocal port-to-port transmission under continuous-wave excitation. We then analyze quantitatively the main limitations of these devices: the limited power and spectral bandwidth, the response under pulsed excitation, and the breakdown of nonreciprocity under simultaneous two-port excitation. In the second part, we will deepen our analysis by considering more complex scenarios involving coherent and incoherent two-port excitations and multiresonator systems offering more flexibility in the response.
Beyond the Usual Suspects: Physiological Roles of the Arabidopsis Amidase Signature (AS) Superfamily Members in Plant Growth Processes and Stress Responses

The diversification of land plants largely relies on their ability to cope with constant environmental fluctuations, which negatively impact their reproductive fitness and trigger adaptive responses to biotic and abiotic stresses. In this limiting landscape, cumulative research attention has centred on deepening the roles of major phytohormones, mostly auxins, together with brassinosteroids, jasmonates, and abscisic acid, despite the signaling networks orchestrating the crosstalk among them are so far only poorly understood. Accordingly, this review focuses on the Arabidopsis Amidase Signature (AS) superfamily members, with the aim of highlighting the hitherto relatively underappreciated functions of AMIDASE1 (AMI1) and FATTY ACID AMIDE HYDROLASE (FAAH), as comparable coordinators of the growth-defense trade-off, by balancing auxin and ABA homeostasis through the conversion of their likely bioactive substrates, indole-3-acetamide and N-acylethanolamine.
To give or to take money? The effects of choice on prosocial spending and happiness

ABSTRACT Previous studies show that spending money on others makes people happier than spending it on themselves. The present study tested and extended this idea by examining the role of active versus passive choice and default choices. Here, 788 participants played and won money in a game, from which some of the earnings could be donated to charity. Participants were randomized to five conditions (control, passive or active choice, default to self or charity). Three measures of subjective well-being (SWB) were used. The results show that people who donated money were happier than people who kept money for themselves, and that active choices elicited significantly more negative affects than passive choices. Also, more people chose to keep the money when this was the default. Last, the greatest effect on happiness was to change from the set default. The results are in line with previous findings in positive psychology and decision making.
Technical notes and outcomes of robot-assisted and laparoscopic jejunostomy placement for tube feeding after esophagectomy

University Medical Center Utrecht, University Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands; Hospital Universitario Fundación Favaloro, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Instituto de Medicina Traslacional, Trasplante y Biongenieria, CONICET, Buenos Aires, Argentina Contributions: (I) Conception and design: BF Kingma, MM Turchi, JP Ruurda, A Nieponice; (II) Administrative support: BF Kingma, MM Turchi, R Lovera, M Ramirez; (III) Provision of study materials or patients: R van Hillegersberg, A Badaloni, JP Ruurda, A Nieponice; (IV) Collection and assembly of data: BF Kingma, MM Turchi, R Lovera, M Ramirez; (V) Data analysis and interpretation: BF Kingma, MM Turchi; (VI) Manuscript writing: All authors; (VII) Final approval of manuscript: All authors. These authors contributed equally to this work. Correspondence to: Alejandro Nieponice, MD, PhD. Chief, Esophageal Unit, Department of Surgery, Hospital Universitario Fundación Favaloro, Av. Belgrano 1746, C1093 AAS, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Email: anieponi@ffavaloro.org.
Bayesian inference with subset simulation in varying dimensions applied to the Karhunen–Loève expansion

Uncertainties associated with spatially varying parameters are modeled through random fields discretized into a finite number of random variables. Standard discretization methods, such as the Karhunen–Loève expansion, use series representations for which the truncation order is specified a priori. However, when data is used to update random fields through Bayesian inference, a different truncation order might be necessary to adequately represent the posterior random field. This is an inference problem that not only requires the determination of the often high‐dimensional set of coefficients, but also their dimension. In this article, we develop a sequential algorithm to handle such inference settings and propose a penalizing prior distribution for the dimension parameter. The method is a variable‐dimensional extension of BUS (Bayesian Updating with Structural reliability methods), combined with subset simulation (SuS). The key idea is to replace the standard Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm within SuS by a trans‐dimensional MCMC sampler that is able to populate the discrete‐continuous parameter space. To address this task, we consider two types of MCMC algorithms that operate in a fixed‐dimensional saturated space. The performance of the proposed method with both MCMC variants is assessed numerically for two examples: a 1D cantilever beam with spatially varying flexibility and a 2D groundwater flow problem with uncertain permeability field.
Recent advances in blood group genotyping

Red blood cell (RBC) antigen typing of both recipients and donors is vital for safe and effective transfusion. Despite the existence of >330 RBC antigens, current routine pre-transfusion testing only includes matching the patient and donor for ABO and D, since serologic typing methods are difficult to scale for routine non-ABO/D antigen typing (i.e., extended antigen typing). While PCR-based genotyping can be used to broadly genotype most antigens, current assay formats limit the number of genetic changes and samples that can be simultaneously tested (~50 genetic changes and ~100 samples per run). However, the emergence of RBC antigen genotyping using next-generation sequencing (NGS) and high-density DNA arrays have the potential to overcome many of these limitations. NGS allows an unprecedented evaluation of genetic changes including novel genetic changes and complex structural variations (SVs), representing the new gold standard for RBC antigen genotyping. High-density DNA arrays allow for low cost evaluation of all known genetic changes including SV with the ability to run 1,000s of samples at a time. As such, NGS will likely replace conventional PCR genotyping for discordants and complex serologic workups and offer an unprecedented level of discovery for new RBC antigens. High-density DNA arrays have the potential to allow for routine genotyping of all blood donors for all genetically understood antigens, something that will fundamentally change the practice of transfusion medicine.
Digital Product–Service Innovation and Sustainability: A Multiple-Case Study in the Capital Goods Industry

Digitalisation, servitisation, and sustainability are keywords for the current and future development of the manufacturing industry. However, their interaction in the context of an organisation and its supply chain is unclear. This study examines how digital product–service innovation (PSI) or digital servitisation affects sustainability, considering the triple bottom line perspective, as well as identifies the underlying causes. Moreover, this study analyses the role played by supply-chain strategic collaboration, both internal and external to the company, in digital PSI and sustainability. Using a multiple-case study methodology and B2B market perspective, four companies belonging to the capital goods industry were analysed. Our findings indicate that digitalisation is leveraging both basic and advanced services in their impact on economic and environmental sustainability dimensions, while the results are limited in social sustainability. In addition, supply-chain integration is relevant for digital PSI. Internal integration is required for both basic and advanced services, while external integration is especially important in advanced services. We conclude by emphasising that companies should acquire digital capabilities to develop defensive and offensive business strategies that ultimately affect sustainability.
Discharge physics and atomic layer etching in Ar/C4F6 inductively coupled plasmas with a radio frequency bias

Atomic layer etching (ALE), a cyclic process of surface modification and removal of the modified layer, is an emerging damage-less etching technology for semiconductor fabrication with a feature size of less than 10 nm. Among the plasma sources, inductively coupled plasma (ICP) can be a candidate for ALE, but there is a lack of research linking discharge physics to the ALE process. In this study, we comprehensively investigated the discharge physics of ICPs with a radio frequency (RF) bias and Ar/C4F6 mixture to be considered for the ALE process. Detailed studies on the discharge physics were conducted in each step of ALE (i.e., modification step, removal step) as well as the whole cycle as follows: (1) In the general ALE cycle, plasma properties dependent on the chamber geometry and the discharge mode of the ICP were analyzed; (2) in the modification step, a plasma instability with molecular gas was observed. The timescale for molecular gas removal was also investigated; (3) in the removal step, changes in plasma characteristics with the RF bias power were studied. Based on measurements of these plasma physical parameters, the discharge condition for ALE was optimized. ALE was performed on various thin films, including a-Si, poly c-Si, SiO2, and Si3N4. For each thin film, thicknesses of 0.5–2.0 nm were etched per cycle, as in quasi-ALE. Finally, ALE was performed on a patterned wafer, and the etch thickness of 0.6 nm per cycle and fine etch profile were obtained.
Harnessing ‘communities of practice’ for local development and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals

ABSTRACT The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) seek to address some of the most critical contemporary global challenges in a 17-goal agenda, including poverty, inequality, global environmental and climate crises. Central to these goals is Goal 17, ‘Partnership for the SDGs’ which forms the core framework for implementation of SDGs across scale. After the first five years of implementation, remarkable progress has been recorded globally; however, significant gaps remain across world regions. For Goal 17, while lateral partnerships and sectoral collaborations have improved, there is little synergy at the local level especially in sub-Saharan Africa. Using the ‘communities of practice’ concept and reflecting on Ghana’s local development framework, this paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on how best to localize global goals, and discusses the relevance of collaboration at the local level in the implementation of SDGs. Our analyses show weak integration of the SDGs into Ghana’s local development structures and poor collaboration among actors at the local level. Given these findings, it is crucial to reprioritize SDG-17 in this last decade of the SDGs by mainstreaming the Goals into statutory local development structures while promoting collaboration and partnerships in ‘communities of practice’ at the local level – where implementation of development occurs.
Modelling the impacts of iodine chemistry on the northern Indian Ocean marine boundary layer

Abstract. Recent observations have shown the ubiquitous presence of iodine oxide (IO) in the Indian Ocean marine boundary layer (MBL). In this study, we use the Weather Research and Forecasting model coupled with Chemistry (WRF-Chem version 3.7.1), including halogen (Br, Cl, and I) sources and chemistry, to quantify the impacts of the observed levels of iodine on the chemical composition of the MBL. The model results show that emissions of inorganic iodine species resulting from the deposition of ozone ( O3 ) on the sea surface are needed to reproduce the observed levels of IO, although the current parameterizations overestimate the atmospheric concentrations. After reducing the inorganic emissions by 40 %, a reasonable match with cruise-based observations is found, with the model predicting values between 0.1 and 1.2 pptv across the model domain MBL. A strong seasonal variation is also observed, with lower iodine concentrations predicted during the monsoon period, when clean oceanic air advects towards the Indian subcontinent, and higher iodine concentrations predicted during the winter period, when polluted air from the Indian subcontinent increases the ozone concentrations in the remote MBL. The results show that significant changes are caused by the inclusion of iodine chemistry, with iodine-catalysed reactions leading to regional changes of up to 25 % in O3 , 50 % in nitrogen oxides (NO and NO2 ), 15 % in hydroxyl radicals (OH), 25 % in hydroperoxyl radicals ( HO2 ), and up to a 50 % change in the nitrate radical ( NO3 ), with lower mean values across the domain. Most of the large relative changes are observed in the open-ocean MBL, although iodine chemistry also affects the chemical composition in the coastal environment and over the Indian subcontinent. These results show the importance of including iodine chemistry in modelling the atmosphere in this region.
Enabling organisational ambidexterity: A leadership perspective

Purpose: Innovation implies change that causes disruption. Ambidexterity is required to balance disruption and change with the counter side, stability, to enhance efficiency. This study set out to understand how the leadership of an organisation can ensure a focus simultaneously an explore logic, required for innovation, and the exploit functions that are needed for efficiency. Design/methodology/approach: This research sought to shed new light on how leaders manage the structural changes required within an organisation to support ambidexterity. It fits into the inductive research approach. A qualitative, exploratory study through semi-structured interviews was completed to enhance the understanding of this understudied phenomenon. Findings/results: The research builds on the current understanding of ambidexterity, different operating models, integration mechanisms and possible organisational structure to enable simultaneously explore and exploit. Respondents were able to suggest how organisations can utilise the ambidexterity continuum as a vehicle to understand the current organisational change logic and required future strategy. Practical implications: Based on the research findings, a model was conceptualised, which included the leadership capabilities required to deal with both existing core business and new venture processes and structures, as well as the integration of these disparate elements. Originality/value: The literature is not clear as to how leaders engender the changes required within the structure of organisations to enable ambidexterity. The research provides a framework that describes how organisations can balance the explore and exploit functions concurrently, as well as leadership capabilities required to achieve this.
Dispersal and early evolution of the first modern cricetid rodents in Western Europe: new data from the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia)

Modern cricetids originated in Asia and dispersed into Western Europe by the end of the early Miocene, where they quickly became major components of the rodent faunas. Here we review the early Miocene rodent record of the genera Democricetodon Fahlbusch, 1964 and Megacricetodon Fahlbusch, 1964 in the Vallès-Penedès Basin (Catalonia, Spain). Democricetodon is represented by four species in the studied sites (D. hispanicus Freudenthal, 1967, D. cf. decipiens (Freudenthal & Daams, 1988), D. gracilis Fahlbusch, 1964 and a large-sized undetermined species) and Megacricetodon by one (M. primitivus (Freudenthal, 1963)). The cricetid succession bears several similarities with that of the nearby Calatayud-Montalbán Basin (East-Central Spain) to the point that the same detailed local biostratigraphy could be extended to the Catalan basin. The rare presence of certain Democricetodon species (D. gracilis) and other small mammal taxa also reveal affinities with regions beyond the Iberian Peninsula and indicate that the Vallès-Penedès Basin was more humid and forested than inland Iberian basins during the early Miocene.