Robot motion design using bunraku emotional expressions – focusing on Jo-Ha-Kyū in sounds and movements*

One of the UNESCO intangible cultural heritages Bunraku puppets can play one of the most beautiful puppet motions in the world. The Bunraku puppet motions can express emotions without the so-called ‘Uncanny Valley.’ We try to convert these emotional motions into robot affective motions so that robots can interact with human beings more comfortable. In so doing, in the present paper, we present a robot motion design framework using Bunraku affective motions that are based on the so-called ‘Jo-Ha-Kyū,’ and convert a few simple Bunraku motions into a robot motions using one of deep learning methods. Our primitive experiments show that Jo-Ha-Kyū can be incorporated into robot motion design smoothly, and some simple affective robot motions can be designed using our proposed framework.     

Analysis of journal evaluation indicators: an experimental study based on unsupervised Laplacian score

Scientometrics - Academic journal rankings have always been a hot topic because the journals ranking will be significantly affected by using different ranking systems or bibliometrics indicators....     

Thermal-Disrupting Interface Mitigates Intercellular Cohesion Loss for Accurate Topical Antibacterial Therapy

Bacterial infections remain a leading threat to global health because of the misuse of antibiotics and the rise in drug-resistant pathogens. Although several strategies such as photothermal therapy and magneto-thermal therapy can suppress bacterial infections, excessive heat often damages host cells and lengthens the healing time. Here, a localized thermal managing strategy, thermal-disrupting interface induced mitigation (TRIM), is reported, to minimize intercellular cohesion loss for accurate antibacterial therapy. The TRIM dressing film is composed of alternative microscale arrangement of heat-responsive hydrogel regions and mechanical support regions, which enables the surface microtopography to have a significant effect on disrupting bacterial colonization upon infrared irradiation. The regulation of the interfacial contact to the attached skin confines the produced heat and minimizes the risk of skin damage during thermoablation. Quantitative mechanobiology studies demonstrate the TRIM dressing film with a critical dimension for surface features plays a critical role in maintaining intercellular cohesion of the epidermis during photothermal therapy. Finally, endowing wound dressing with the TRIM effect via in vivo studies in S. aureus infected mice demonstrates a promising strategy for mitigating the side effects of photothermal therapy against a wide spectrum of bacterial infections, promoting future biointerface design for antibacterial therapy.     

A Colorimetric Artificial Olfactory System for Airborne Improvised Explosive Identification

The detection of ultralow or nonvolatile target analytes remains a significant challenge for artificial olfactory systems even after decades of development, which severely limits their widespread application. To overcome this challenge, an artificial olfactory system based on a colorimetric hydrogel array is constructed for the first time as a universal representative. As an effective extension of conventional artificial olfactory systems that integrates the merits of its predecessors, the proposed system accurately mimics olfactory mucosa and specific odorant binding proteins using hydrogels endowed with specific colorimetric reagents for the detection of hypochlorite, chlorate, perchlorate, urea, and nitrate. Therefore, the proposed system is capable of detecting and discriminating between these five airborne improvised explosive microparticulates with a detection limit as low as 39.4 pg. Additionally, the system demonstrates good reusability over ten cycles, rapid response time of ≈0.2 s, and excellent discrimination properties, despite significant variation. This proof-of-concept study on colorimetric artificial olfactory systems yields a novel strategy for the direct and discriminative detection of nonvolatile airborne microparticulates.     

Milling process simulation for the variable pitch cutter based on an integrated process-machine model

Milling process simulations provide a useful way to design and adjust the technical parameters of milling process. As the milling process involves coupling     

Locking-free triangular plate element using polynomial incompatible approximation for analysis of cracked thick–thin plates

This work describes a new filament deposition in fused deposition modeling process through criterion based on mechanical stress. This criterion requires that the filaments’ directions to follow the principal directions of the stress in the sample. The article also presents several Crack-test specimens that have been printed with and without respect to this criterion. The fracture behavior of these specimens has been investigated. The results show that criterion leads to an improvement of 30% in the fracture toughness. Digital image correlation has been extensively used to study the local strain field in the specimens. The strain cartographies reveal a drastic change in fracture behavior. The modification of filament direction leads to “ductile-like behavior” in crack extension which is characterized by a large deformation zone associated with a slow crack growth rate during the crack propagation.     

A new territory and its pioneer: opening up a dominant research stream for a translational research area

Scientometrics - An academic pioneer makes many trials to find relations and results that were unknown before. The verified relations and repeatable results the pioneer finds guide followers to...     

大冶铁矿同阶段崩落法转充填法开采隔离间柱合理宽度确定

为保障同阶段崩落法转充填法开采顺利过渡，过渡段处须设置竖向隔离间柱。以大冶铁矿龙洞采区-170 m同阶段崩落法转充填法梯形隔离间柱为研究对象，将其简化为变惯性矩固支梁，并以间柱的水平应 变量允许值为判据，初步确定梯形隔离间柱上端的初始宽度。以梯形隔离间柱上端的初始宽度为基础，采用数值模拟方法，计算了不同梯形隔离间柱上端宽度与不同充填体灰砂比协同作用下的充填采场顶板围岩沉降 量，并对不同灰砂比下梯形隔离间柱上端宽度与顶板围岩最大沉降量进行了数据拟合，由顶板围岩允许沉降值得到与不同充填体灰砂比协同匹配下的梯形隔离间柱上端的合理宽度。数值计算结果表明：与充填体灰砂 比分别为1∶4、1∶6、1∶8、1∶10、1∶12协同匹配的梯形隔离间柱上端合理宽度分别为16、19、21、25、29 m。研究成果可为合理确定矿山同阶段崩落法转充填法开采过渡段隔离间柱宽度提供参考。     

薄壁弱刚性钛合金结构件制造工艺

随着新型材料冶金技术的发展与进步,钛合金作为“崛起的第三代金属”已完全替代了铝镁合金和钢构件,成为航天飞行器上应用范围最广的材料之一。从某新研制航天飞行器外部结构件用钛合金材料的特性及切削特点入手,针对薄壁弱刚性钛合金结构件在实际加工过程中遇到的诸多难点,提出了相应的解决办法,并重新设计了零件工装。结果表明,改进措施不仅保证了零件质量,而且提高了零件加工效率,使单件零件的生产周期缩短了近10h。     

Aqueous-based,high-density nanoporous carbon xerogels with high specific surface area for supercapacitors

Journal of Porous Materials - Electrode materials with high density for assembling supercapacitors with high volumetric capacitance are urgently needed. Herein, nanoporous carbon xerogels (NPCXs)...