scholarly journals Hand-Object Interaction: From Human Demonstrations to Robot Manipulation

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alessandro Carfì ◽  
Timothy Patten ◽  
Yingyi Kuang ◽  
Ali Hammoud ◽  
Mohamad Alameh ◽  
...  

Human-object interaction is of great relevance for robots to operate in human environments. However, state-of-the-art robotic hands are far from replicating humans skills. It is, therefore, essential to study how humans use their hands to develop similar robotic capabilities. This article presents a deep dive into hand-object interaction and human demonstrations, highlighting the main challenges in this research area and suggesting desirable future developments. To this extent, the article presents a general definition of the hand-object interaction problem together with a concise review for each of the main subproblems involved, namely: sensing, perception, and learning. Furthermore, the article discusses the interplay between these subproblems and describes how their interaction in learning from demonstration contributes to the success of robot manipulation. In this way, the article provides a broad overview of the interdisciplinary approaches necessary for a robotic system to learn new manipulation skills by observing human behavior in the real world.

Author(s):  
P. A. Strelnikov

The article presents the results of the methodological analysis of the existing practice of University training in terms of graduates' integrated competencies. The analysis was carried out at the general philosophical (system and genetic approaches), general scientific (process-effect approach), specific scientific (competence, personal-activity and situation-problem approaches) and methodological and procedural levels (integrative and interdisciplinary approaches). Systemic shortcomings that impede the educational productivity of the existing training practice in terms of the efficiency of educational integration are identified and described. The definition of educational integration is given as the process of integration of individual competencies acquired by a student in the process of mastering individual disciplines into a single system totality, which is an integral tool for the graduate's professional activity.


Author(s):  
Takis S. Pappas

Based on an original definition of modern populism as “democratic illiberalism” and many years of meticulous research, Takis Pappas marshals extraordinary empirical evidence from Argentina, Greece, Peru, Italy, Venezuela, Ecuador, Hungary, the United States, Spain, and Brazil to develop a comprehensive theory about populism. He addresses all key issues in the debate about populism and answers significant questions of great relevance for today’s liberal democracy, including: • What is modern populism and how can it be differentiated from comparable phenomena like nativism and autocracy? • Where in Latin America has populism become most successful? Where in Europe did it emerge first? Why did its rise to power in the United States come so late? • Is Trump a populist and, if so, could he be compared best with Venezuela’s Chávez, France’s Le Pens, or Turkey’s Erdoğan? • Why has populism thrived in post-authoritarian Greece but not in Spain? And why in Argentina and not in Brazil? • Can populism ever succeed without a charismatic leader? If not, what does leadership tell us about how to challenge populism? • Who are “the people” who vote for populist parties, how are these “made” into a group, and what is in their minds? • Is there a “populist blueprint” that all populists use when in power? And what are the long-term consequences of populist rule? • What does the expansion, and possibly solidification, of populism mean for the very nature and future of contemporary democracy? Populism and Liberal Democracy will change the ways the reader understands populism and imagines the prospects of liberal democracy.


2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1122-1124 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Almeida ◽  
Małgorzata Guzowska ◽  
Tatiana Odzijewicz

AbstractIn this short note we present a new general definition of local fractional derivative, that depends on an unknown kernel. For some appropriate choices of the kernel we obtain some known cases. We establish a relation between this new concept and ordinary differentiation. Using such formula, most of the fundamental properties of the fractional derivative can be derived directly.


2020 ◽  
Vol 79 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1633.2-1634
Author(s):  
F. Cosan ◽  
O. M. Gedar

Background:Reactive arthritis (ReA) is defined by 1999 ACR criteria as arthritis preceding a bacterial genitourinary (GUS) or gastrointestinal (GIS) infection in 3 days-6 weeks and evidence of triggering infection. Recently, ReA is classified as SpA and patients who do not fulfill SpA criteria are classified as undifferentiated spondyloarthritis (USpA) according to ASAS/EULAR SpA classification criteria.Objectives:In several case reports which are associated with other infective agents are reported and the definition is extended for some clinicians so that SpA which is occurred after any infection is called as ReA. On the other hand, some researchers still accept the classical definition of ReA. The problem with the heterogeneity of opinions and unstandardized definition of ReA hinders studies about pathogenesis and standardization of treatments. In this study, we aimed to determine the spectrum of the use of the definition of reactive arthritis in publications in PubMed between 2009-2019.Methods:The ReA keyword is searched in PubMed for the years between 2009-2019. 248 different publications have been identified and included in this research. 89 articles, 47 reviews, 108 case reports, 2 guidelines, and 2 editorials reviewed for the definition of ReA.Results:Only 42.7% (106 patients) of these publications meet the classical definition which suggests ReA after only GIS and GUS infections. In 4 (1.6%) of the publications ReA was defined after GIS, GUS and oropharyngeal infections; in 3 (1,2%) of the publications after any bacterial infection; in 9 (3.6%) of the publications after any infection. In 8 (3.2%) of the publications, ReA and USPA was used correspondingly. In 39 (15,7%) of the publications the term agent related, ReA was used without making a general definition for ReA. 79 publications (31,9%) have not defined ReA.According to causative agent and ReA relationship, in 64 (24,6%) general infective agents, in 75 (30,2%) classical agents, in 22 (8,9%) other bacterial agents, in 23 (9,3%) streptococcus, in 10(4%) intravesical BCG, in 6 (2.4%) HIV, in 6 (2.4%) tuberculosis, in 12 (4,8%) clostrudium difficle, in 2 (0.8%) parasites were reported. In 31 (12,5%) of the publications the causative agent for the ReA was unknown, the diagnosis was made clinically.Conclusion:In this study, it is aimed to draw attention terminology intricacy and the need for the standardization of the definition of ReA and USpA. It is clear that to standardize the definition of Rea and USpA is necessary. Between 2009-2019 there are reported cases diagnosed as ReA associated with bacterial infections (especially with Clostridium difficile, streptococcus and tuberculosis infections), and viral infections (by a majority with HIV), and parasitic infections. It is not clear if we need to define them classically or define them as USPA. Another important consideration is the necessity of extended laboratory investigations to find out the real causative agent even if the patient is clinically diagnosed with ReA. The requirement of the differentiation between ReA and USpA must be revealed for therapeutic researches.References:[1]A proposal for the classification of patients for clinical and experimental studies on reactive arthritis. Pacheco-Tena C, Burgos-Vargas R, Vázquez-Mellado J, Cazarín J, Pérez-Díaz JA. J Rheumatol. 1999 Jun;26(6):1338-46.[2]The Assessment of SpondyloArthritis International Society classification criteria for peripheral spondyloarthritis and for spondyloarthritis in general. Rudwaleit M, van der Heijde D, Landewé R, Akkoc N, Brandt J, Chou CT, Dougados M, Huang F, Gu J, Kirazli Y, et al. Ann Rheum Dis. 2011;70:25–31.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


Processes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 21
Author(s):  
Brigitte Altmann ◽  
Christoph Grün ◽  
Cordula Nies ◽  
Eric Gottwald

In this second part of our systematic review on the research area of 3D cell culture in micro-bioreactors we give a detailed description of the published work with regard to the existing micro-bioreactor types and their applications, and highlight important results gathered with the respective systems. As an interesting detail, we found that micro-bioreactors have already been used in SARS-CoV research prior to the SARS-CoV2 pandemic. As our literature research revealed a variety of 3D cell culture configurations in the examined bioreactor systems, we defined in review part one “complexity levels” by means of the corresponding 3D cell culture techniques applied in the systems. The definition of the complexity is thereby based on the knowledge that the spatial distribution of cell-extracellular matrix interactions and the spatial distribution of homologous and heterologous cell–cell contacts play an important role in modulating cell functions. Because at least one of these parameters can be assigned to the 3D cell culture techniques discussed in the present review, we structured the studies according to the complexity levels applied in the MBR systems.


Author(s):  
M. Ferrara ◽  
M. Trombetti

AbstractLet G be an abelian group. The aim of this short paper is to describe a way to identify pure subgroups H of G by looking only at how the subgroup lattice $$\mathcal {L}(H)$$ L ( H ) embeds in $$\mathcal {L}(G)$$ L ( G ) . It is worth noticing that all results are carried out in a local nilpotent context for a general definition of purity.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Marin ◽  
Carla Piazza ◽  
Sabina Rossi

AbstractIn this paper, we deal with the lumpability approach to cope with the state space explosion problem inherent to the computation of the stationary performance indices of large stochastic models. The lumpability method is based on a state aggregation technique and applies to Markov chains exhibiting some structural regularity. Moreover, it allows one to efficiently compute the exact values of the stationary performance indices when the model is actually lumpable. The notion of quasi-lumpability is based on the idea that a Markov chain can be altered by relatively small perturbations of the transition rates in such a way that the new resulting Markov chain is lumpable. In this case, only upper and lower bounds on the performance indices can be derived. Here, we introduce a novel notion of quasi-lumpability, named proportional lumpability, which extends the original definition of lumpability but, differently from the general definition of quasi-lumpability, it allows one to derive exact stationary performance indices for the original process. We then introduce the notion of proportional bisimilarity for the terms of the performance process algebra PEPA. Proportional bisimilarity induces a proportional lumpability on the underlying continuous-time Markov chains. Finally, we prove some compositionality results and show the applicability of our theory through examples.


2002 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian R. Macintosh ◽  
Dilson E. Rassier

Fatigue and potentiation are two forms of force modulation. A general definition of fatigue is "a circumstance where less than the anticipated contractile response is obtained." Fatigue is associated with depressed Ca2+ release and possibly decreased Ca2+ sensitivity. Potentiation results from increased Ca2+ sensitivity due to regulatory light chain phosphorylation. Muscle fatigue and potentiation can coexist, making it difficult to quantify these processes. With repetitive 10 Hz stimulation, the developed tension first increases, then decreases. Is fatigue present when developed tension first begins to decrease or when it falls below the developed tension of the first response? Intermittent incompletely fused tetanic contractions for which peak developed tension first decreases, then increases, is another unusual example of fatigue. A third example is when twitch contractions following a tetanic contraction decrease to a level below the pretetanic twitch amplitude, indicating that fatigue may have been coexistent with posttetanic potentiation. These observations illustrate the complexity of detecting fatigue, based on the simple, but commonly accepted definition presented above. Care must be taken in interpreting "before vs. after" contractile responses. Even when the contraction amplitude is greater than the initial response, there is no guarantee that mechanisms associated with fatigue are not present. Key words: calcium sensitivity, staircase, posttetanic potentiation, myosin light chains, skeletal muscle


2004 ◽  
Vol 2004 (05) ◽  
pp. 043-043 ◽  
Author(s):  
T Harmark ◽  
N.A Obers

1976 ◽  
Vol 98 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. G. T. Hollands ◽  
K. C. Goel

The general concept of the mean diameter of the disperse phase of an aerosol system, first introduced by Mugele and Evans in 1951, has proven to be a very useful one. In this concept, the proper mean diameter, xp,q, is characterized by a single pair of indices, p and q, which are dependent on the actual type of aerosol system under consideration. This paper re-examines the validity of this concept of mean diameter in heat and mass transfer aerosol systems. The concept is found to be applicable only under a very narrow range of conditions. Attention is then given to a more general definition of a mean diameter, applicable to aerosol heat or mass exchangers. Analyses of these devices shows that the more general mean diameter is a function of the capacity rate ratio, R, and effectiveness of the heat exchanger, ε. Solutions to the governing equations have permitted the mean diameter to be presented graphically as a function of these variables. These solutions are given for two types of particle size distributions, the Rosin-Rammler and the log-probability, and for both parallel-flow and counter-flow heat exchangers. The solutions are, however, restricted to cases where the resistance to heat or mass transfer lies exclusively in the continuous phase.


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