Underwater Soft Robotics: A Review of Bioinspiration in Design, Actuation, Modeling, and Control

Nature and biological creatures are some of the main sources of inspiration for humans. Engineers have aspired to emulate these natural systems. As rigid systems become increasingly limited in their capabilities to perform complex tasks and adapt to their environment like living creatures, the need for soft systems has become more prominent due to the similar complex, compliant, and flexible characteristics they share with intelligent natural systems. This review provides an overview of the recent developments in the soft robotics field, with a focus on the underwater application frontier.

New Straightforward Benchmark Solutions for Bending and Free Vibration of Clamped Anisotropic Rectangular Thin Plates

This study presents new straightforward benchmark solutions for bending and free vibration of clamped anisotropic rectangular thin plates by a double finite integral transform method. Being different from the previous studies that took pure trigonometric functions as the integral kernels, the exponential functions are adopted, and the unknowns to be determined are constituted after the integral transform, which overcomes the difficulty in solving the governing higher-order partial differential equations with odd derivatives with respect to both the in-plane coordinate variables, thus goes beyond the limit of conventional finite integral transforms that are only applicable to isotropic or orthotropic plates. The present study provides an easy-to-implement approach for similar complex problems, extending the scope of finite integral transforms with applications to plate problems. The validity of the method and accuracy of the new solutions that can serve as benchmarks are well confirmed by satisfactory comparison with the numerical solutions.

Digital Twin for Power Plants, Energy Savings and other Complex Engineering Systems

Digital Twin (DT) is a digital representation of a machine, service, or production system that consists of models, information, and data used to characterize properties, conditions, and behavior of the system. Renewable energy integration will make future power plants more complex with addition of varieties of Power-to-X technologies, Electrolysis to green hydrogen, onsite storage and transport of hydrogen, and use of pure or blended hydrogen, etc. These future power plants need robust DT architecture to achieve high Reliability, Availability and Maintainability at lower cost. In this research work, a comprehensive and robust DT architecture for power plants is proposed that also can be implemented in other similar complex capital-intensive large engineering systems. The novelty and advantages of the proposed DT is asserted by reviewing the state-of-the-art of DT in energy industries and its potential to transform these industries. Then the proposed DT architecture and its five components are explained and discussed. More specifically, the main contributions of the present work include: 1. Overview of DT key research and development for energy savings applications to consider important findings, research gaps and the needed future development for the proposed DT for power plants. 2. Overview of DT key research for power plants including applications, frameworks and architectures to consider important findings and to confirm the novelty and robustness of the proposed DT. 3. Proposing and demonstrating new robust DT architecture for power plants and other similar complex capital-intensive large engineering systems.

Transitivity Analysis of Pakistan's Code of Civil Procedure 1908: A Corpus-Based Study

The language of law is complex and needs to be investigated to facilitate its easy understanding. The present study addresses this need by analyzing a mini-corpus comprising two short texts taken from Pakistan's Code of Civil Procedure 1908 and the U.K.'s Civil Procedure Rules 1998 with Halliday's ideational metafunction, which is suited for analyzing procedural texts (Halliday & Matthiessen, 2004). The study identified the transitivity patterns in the mini corpus. The findings showed simpler construction of processes in the U.K. civil procedure text sample as compared to Pakistan's Civil Procedure text sample, whereas the analysis showed a similar complex construction of nominal phrases in both texts. The study is expected to contribute toward an easy understanding of legal language. It is also hoped that this study will promote further research in this important area with pedagogical implications.

Thermal remote sensing reveals communication between volcanoes of the Klyuchevskoy Volcanic Group

Volcanoes are traditionally considered isolated with an activity that is mostly independent of the surrounding, with few eruptions only (< 2%) associated with a tectonic earthquake trigger. Evidence is now increasing that volcanoes forming clusters of eruptive centers may simultaneously erupt, show unrest, or even shut-down activity. Using infrared satellite data, we detail 20 years of eruptive activity (2000–2020) at Klyuchevskoy, Bezymianny, and Tolbachik, the three active volcanoes of the Klyuchevskoy Volcanic Group (KVG), Kamchatka. We show that the neighboring volcanoes exhibit multiple and reciprocal interactions on different timescales that unravel the magmatic system’s complexity below the KVG. Klyuchevskoy and Bezymianny volcanoes show correlated activity with time-predictable and quasiperiodic behaviors, respectively. This is consistent with magma accumulation and discharge dynamics at both volcanoes, typical of steady-state volcanism. However, Tolbachik volcano can interrupt this steady-state regime and modify the magma output rate of its neighbors for several years. We suggest that below the KVG the transfer of magma at crustal level is modulated by the presence of three distinct but hydraulically connected plumbing systems. Similar complex interactions may occur at other volcanic groups and must be considered to evaluate the hazard of grouped volcanoes.

Internalizing symptoms, well-being, and correlates in adolescence: A multiverse exploration via cross-lagged panel network models

Internalizing symptoms are the most prevalent mental health problem in adolescents, with sharp increases seen, particularly for girls, and evidence that young people today report more problems than previous generations. It is therefore critical to measure and monitor these states on a large scale and consider correlates. We used novel panel network methodology to explore relationships between internalizing symptoms, well-being, and inter/intrapersonal indicators. A multiverse design was used with 32 conditions to consider the stability of results across arbitrary researcher decisions in a large community sample over three years (N = 15,843, aged 11–12 at Time 1). Networks were consistently similar for girls and boys. Stable trait-like effects within anxiety, attentional, and social indicators were found. Within-person networks were densely connected and suggested mental health and inter/intrapersonal correlates related to one another in similar complex ways. The multiverse design suggested the particular operationalization of items can substantially influence conclusions. Nevertheless, indicators such as thinking clearly, unhappiness, dealing with stress, and worry showed more consistent centrality, suggesting these indicators may play particularly important roles in the development of mental health in adolescence.

Complexity traits and synchrony of cryptocurrencies price dynamics

In this study, we characterized the dynamics and analyzed the degree of synchronization of the time series of daily closing prices and volumes in US$ of three cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, over the period September 1,2015–March 31, 2020. Time series were first mapped into a complex network by the horizontal visibility algorithm in order to revel the structure of their temporal characters and dynamics. Then, the synchrony of the time series was investigated to determine the possibility that the cryptocurrencies under study co-bubble simultaneously. Findings reveal similar complex structures for the three virtual currencies in terms of number and internal composition of communities. To the aim of our analysis, such result proves that price and volume dynamics of the cryptocurrencies were characterized by cyclical patterns of similar wavelength and amplitude over the time period considered. Yet, the value of the slope parameter associated with the exponential distributions fitted to the data suggests a higher stability and predictability for Bitcoin and Litecoin than for Ethereum. The study of synchrony between the time series investigated displayed a different degree of synchronization between the three cryptocurrencies before and after a collapse event. These results could be of interest for investors who might prefer to switch from one cryptocurrency to another to exploit the potential opportunities of profit generated by the dynamics of price and volumes in the market of virtual currencies.

Double-Outlet Right Ventricle in a Chianina Calf

Congenital heart defects have been occasionally reported in cattle and ventricular septal defect represents the most frequently encountered anomaly. The double-outlet right ventricle is a rare congenital ventriculoarterial malformation reported only in certain cattle breeds. We describe this rare and complex congenital cardiac malformation observed in a 10-day-old male Chianina calf. Clinical examination showed tachycardia, tachypnea, jugular pulses, cyanotic mucous membranes and a right apical systolic murmur. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed severe dilation of the right-sided cardiac chambers with a markedly hypoplastic left ventricle. Both aorta and pulmonary artery leaving the right ventricle in parallel alignment with the tricuspid valve were suggestive of a dual-outlet right ventricle. Interventricular and interatrial septal defects were also visualized. Post-mortem examination confirmed the echocardiographic findings. To the authors’ knowledge, a similar complex congenital cardiac malformation has not been reported in calves of the Chianina breed to date.

Analysis of the interaction between N-acetylneuraminic acid and disaccharides on silica surface

Nanocomposites based on biomolecules and highly dispersed silica are quite promising for use in many fields of biotechnology. There are many methods of obtaining such materials, in particular, adsorption from liquid or gas phases. Saccharides and their derivatives are present in the human body, they are involved in metabolic process, thus it is reasonable to use them while working with biomolecules. The work considers such disaccharides as sucrose, lactose and N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA). Being a part of glycoproteins and glycolipids, NANA is also considered to be a carbohydrate. The main objective of the study was to study the ways of interaction of NANA on the disaccharide-modified silica surface. The methods of quantum chemistry have been used to find the probable structures of three-component adsorbtion complexes at molecular level and to clarify the mutual influence of these compounds in adsorbtion process. An analysis of the results of quantum chemical calculations shows that the adsorption of an anion of N-acetylneuraminic acid on silica surface is less likely than in its molecular form. Molecules of N-acetylneuraminic acid, disaccharides and silica form intermolecular complexes due to intermolecular hydrogen bonds between polar functional (mainly –OH) groups of the analytes. The sucrose dimer is 85.4 kJ/mol stronger than the lactose one. The sucrose molecule also forms a 38.1 kJ/mol stronger intermolecular complex with the N-acetylneuraminic acid molecule compared to a similar complex where lactose is used as a disaccharide. The highest energy (245.2 kJ/mol) is released when a silica cluster interacts with the intermolecular complex of N-acetylneuraminic acid and sucrose provided silica and the sucrose molecule are in a direct contact with each other. Therefore, as studies have shown, the adsorption of N-acetylneuraminic acid is possible if silica surface is pre-modified with disaccharides. The results of quantum chemical modeling confirm the obtained experimental data.

Bringing Back some Eagleness to Eagles – on Bird Worldings in the Bronze Age

This paper explores multispecies relations in the Bronze Age in northern Europe in gen-eral, and in particular some of the intra-actions between humans and eagles. The paper is a call to embrace eagles as co-actors in unfolding human worldings. It demonstrates that more than one relationship and intra-action unfolded between humans and eagles during the Bronze Age; some were male-gendered and others were revealed as significant for fe-males and children. It is argued that to be able to detect these and similar complex relation-ships between humans and others-than-humans in the past, we need to try to seek more enmeshed ways to assemble data which combine, contrast, and explore the complexity of different strands of evidence.