Virtual Tours to Promote the Remote Customer Experience

Today, virtual reality and augmented reality can allow people to interact with products and places in a very realistic way. In this direction, the use of immersive virtual tours (VTs) can improve the users' experience, their perceptions, attitudes and even intended behaviours as potential or actual consumers. The paper focuses on a traditional Italian cheese product and defines a transdisciplinary, multimodal approach where VT helps the remote customer experience based on a VT application to virtually visit a Parmigiano Reggiano cheese dairy, using cutting- edge virtual reality set-up. The paper describes how to create a virtual tour of industrial plants by mapping the main actions, from the storytelling definition, to the plant digitization, until the creation of the virtual, immersive and multimodal application using Unity3D. The VT combines visual experience with gesture recognition and audio stimulation, adding also olfactory cues, in order to create an interactive and realistic experience

Benchmark on Human Simulation Tools: A Transdisciplinary Approach

Nowadays companies have to face a competitive market that requires small volumes with a high level of customisations. In this context, assembly quality and timeliness is crucial. To guarantee flexibility and personalization, manual operations still have a crucial role for a lot of manufacturing sectors, so that workers' conditions and ergonomics are important factors to achieve a better product quality and overall cost reduction. Ergonomics evaluation in manufacturing is a challenging and expensive activity that requires a transdisciplinary approach, to merge technical and social sciences to finally have a consolidated and reliable evaluation. This paper compared two digital human simulations tools offered by Siemens Tecnomatix: Jack and Process Simulate. They were applied on the same industrial case study, concerning the hood assembly of an agricultural machine, comparing results on ergonomics reports and usage time. Results confirmed the advantage of adopting a digital approach to predict the human effort and ergonomic risk related to a series of tasks. At the same time, they showed the major strengths and weaknesses of the two analysed tools and defined how they can be successfully adopted by companies. The paper finally provided guidelines to drive companies in choosing the best tool according to their needs

Growing old in a transnational social field: belonging, mobility and identity among Italian migrants

This article focuses on ageing in transnationalism. Drawing on the experiences of Italians in the UK as a paradigmatic example of settled European migrants, it explores the lived experiences of this group of older migrants. Using Levitt and Glick Schiller’s framework,it concentrates first on migrants’ways of being and then on their ways of belonging. The article argues that a transnational lens is necessary to understand the experiences of older migrants and that a focus on older people needs to be incorporated into studies of transnationalism. Through a discussion of their narratives and experiences, the article offers a long view on the migration process and brings attention to the significance of gender, time and the life course to understand both migrants’transnationalism and their integration

A methodology to guide companies in using Explainable AI-driven interfaces in manufacturing contexts

Nowadays, the increasing integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in manufacturing processes is raising the need of users to understand and interpret the decision-making processes of complex AI systems. Traditional black-box AI models often lack transparency, making it challenging for users to comprehend the reasoning behind their outputs. In contrast, Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI) techniques provide interpretability by revealing the internal mechanisms of AI models, making them more trustworthy and facilitating human-AI collaboration. In order to promote XAI models' dissemination, this paper proposes a matrix-based methodology to design XAI-driven user interfaces in manufacturing contexts. It helps in mapping the users' needs and identifying the “explainability visualization types” that best fits the end users' requirements for the specific context of use. The proposed methodology was applied in the XMANAI European Project (https://ai4manufacturing.eu), aimed at creating a novel AI platform to support XAI-supported decision making in manufacturing plants. Results showed that the proposed methodology is able to guide companies in the correct implementation of XAI models, realizing the full potential of AI while ensuring human oversight and control

UX Evaluation of a Tractor Cabin Digital Twin Using Mixed Reality

Understanding user experience (UX) is essential to design engaging and attractive products, so nowadays has emerged an increasingly interest in user- centred design approach; in this perspective, digital technologies such as Virtual Reality (VR) and Mixed Reality (MR) could help designers and engineers to create a digital prototype through which the user feedback can be considered during the product design stage. This research aims at creating an interactive Digital Twin (DT) using MR to enable a tractor driving simulation and involve real users to carry out an early UX evaluation, with the scope to validate the design of the control dashboard through a transdisciplinary approach. MR combines virtual simulation with real physical hardware devices which the user can interact with and have control through both visual and tactile feedback. The result is a MR simulator that combines virtual contents and physical controls, capable of reproducing a plowing activity close to reality. The principles of UX design was applied to this research for a continuous and dynamic UX evaluation during the project development

Polysaccharide-based biodegradable films for agricultural mulching

In the last 20 years, the global population has blowout growth from 6.0 billion to 7.2 billion and will reach over 8.0 billion around 2046 [1]. Consequently, food shortage has drawn attention, and the demand for agricultural products has increased annually. To meet this need, the excessive and prolonged use of mulching films based on low-density polyethene resulted in significant environmental pollution events, leading to serious side effects on human health [2]. Due to the thickness of the plastic film and the difficulty of recovery, some mulch films were discarded in agricultural soils intentionally or unintentionally. Mulch film residue is a direct source of farmland meso- and microplastics (MMPs), which constitute a global environmental issue, as they accumulate even in the food chain [3]. MMPs' further degradation into nanoscale particles can endanger human health [4]. To provide agricultural sustainability, there is a great interest in developing biodegradable bio-based polymeric films for agriculture mulching, which can be tilled directly into the soil after use. Based on the above issues, this study aims at (i) the preparation and characterisation of biodegradable bio-based composite films and (2) their enrichment with plant nutrients, which could be efficiently released into the water to sustain their application as mulch films on the soil. Sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), chitosan (CS) and sodium alginate (SA) were combined in the presence of glycerol as a plasticiser to produce composite films by solvent casting. Composition (i.e., concentrations and mass ratios between the precursors) and cross-linking agent (CaCl2) effects on films' properties were evaluated. In the first stage, we investigated the structure of the formed films through Attenuated Total Reflection Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy, the thermal and mechanical properties by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and some water-interaction properties (degree of swelling and solubility in water). This approach allowed identifying the best quality films, which were enriched with NH4H2PO4, as N and P are generally the most deficient nutrients in the soil. Moreover, the release kinetics in the water of this salt was studied. The latter aspect is of great importance as the release of N and P helps to improve the nutrient supply to the soil, thus reducing the use of synthetic fertilisers. [1] B. Chieng et al. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130 (2013) 4576-4580 [2] H. M. S . Akhtar, et al. Int. J. Biol. Macromol. 118 (2018), 469-477 [3] M.C. Rillig, M. C. Environ. Sci. Technol. 46 (2012), 6453-6454 [4] I. Ali et al. J. Clean. Prod. 313 (2021) 12786

Perforated gastric cancer. A critical appraisal

Gastric cancer perforation is a life-threatening condition that accounts for less than 5% of all gastric cancer patients and typically requires emergency surgery. However, preoperative diagnosis is difcult and management has a dual pur- pose: to treat peritonitis and to achieve a curative resection. The optimal surgical strategy is still unclear and prognosis remains poor. A search of the literature was performed using MEDLINE databases (Pubmed, EMBASE, Web of Science and Cochrane) using terms such as “perforated gastric cancer”, “perforated gastric cancer and surgery”, “perforated gastric tumour” and “gastric cancer perforated”. Case reports, other reviews, non-english written papers and papers written before 2010 were excluded. Eight articles published between 2010 and 2020 matched the inclusion criteria for this review. Perforated gastric cancer was more prevalent in elderly males. Distal stomach was most frequently involved. Preoperative diagnosis was uncommon. Mortality rates ranged from 2 to 46%. Patients able to receive an R0 resection demonstrated better long-term survival compared with patients who had simple closure procedures. Laparoscopic procedure was mentioned only in one study. In an emergency situation, curative RO resection should always be ofered in patients without multiple adverse factors. A surgical strategy using laparoscopic local repair as frst step of surgery to resolve the peritonitis followed by a radical open or laparoscopic gastrectomy with lymphadenectomy could be con- sidered. A balance between emergency and oncological needs should drive the surgical choice on a case by case basis

Postharvest strategies for preventing flower wilting and leaf yellowing in cut Ranunculus flowers

Introduction: Appropriate postharvest treatment, as well as adequate conditions of storage, can be adopted to elongate the lifespan of cut flowers. Thidiazuron (TDZ), a substituted phenylurea, and 1-methylcycloproene (1-MCP), a non-toxic inhibitor of ethylene perception, are nowadays substances commonly used to prevent early damage caused by senescence and to delay chlorophyll degradation. Ranunculus asiaticus L. is cultivated for cut flower production and is highly sensitive to ethylene and leaf yellowing. In this study, the effect of different pulse-tratment in prolonging cut ranunculus vase life was analyzed. Methods: TDZ 10 μM, 1-MCP 500 ppb, and a combination of both were applied for 24 hours after harvest. The effect of the treatments was evaluated by performing non-destructive (% loss of fresh weight, chlorophyll a fluorescence, in vivo chlorophyll content, and Nitrogen Flavonol Index – NFI) and destructive (chlorophyll, carotenoids, anthocyanins concentration, and phenolic index) analyses at 0, 1, 12, and 14 days from treatments. Results and Discussion: Flower wilting was delayed by 4 days in 1-MCP + TDZ 10 μM treatments, which also reduced weight loss and chlorophyll degradation compared to controls. The effectiveness of these compounds in preventing senescence has been confirmed by the decreased biosynthesis of phenolic compounds

Exploring the Feasibility of Polysaccharide-Based Mulch Films with Controlled Ammonium and Phosphate Ions Release for Sustainable Agriculture

Bio-based polymers are a promising material with which to tackle the use of disposable and non-degradable plastics in agriculture, such as mulching films. However, their poor mechanical properties and the high cost of biomaterials have hindered their widespread application. Hence, in this study, we improved polysaccharide-based films and enriched them with plant nutrients to make them suitable for mulching and fertilizing. Films were produced combining sodium carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC), chitosan (CS), and sodium alginate (SA) at different weight ratios with glycerol and CaCl2 as a plasticizer and crosslinker, respectively, and enriched with ammonium phosphate monobasic (NH4H2PO4). A polysaccharide weight ratio of 1:1 generated a film with a more crosslinked structure and a lower expanded network than that featuring the 17:3 ratio, whereas CaCl2 increased the films’ water resistance, thermal stability, and strength characteristics, slowing the release rates of NH4+ and PO43−. Thus, composition and crosslinking proved crucial to obtaining promising films for soil mulching

Mechanisms of nerve damage in neuropathies associated with hematological diseases: lesson from nerve biopsies

Despite the introduction of non-invasive techniques in the study of peripheral neuropathies, sural nerve biopsy remains the gold standard for the diagnosis of several neuropathies, including vasculitic neuropathy and neurolymphomatosis. Besides its diagnostic role, sural nerve biopsy has helped to shed light on the pathogenic mechanisms of different neuropathies. In the present review, we discuss how pathological findings helped understand the mechanisms of polyneuropathies complicating hematological diseases