Robot Protection in the Hazardous Environments

Rescue missions for chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNE) incidents are highly risky and sometimes it is impossible for rescuers to perform, while these accidents vary dramatically in features and protection requirements. The purpose of this chapter is to present several protection approaches for rescue robots in the hazardous conditions. And four types of rescue robots are presented, respectively. First, design factors and challenges of the rescue robots are analyzed and indicated for these accidents. Then the rescue robots with protective modification are presented, respectively, meeting individual hazardous requirements. And finally several tests are conducted to validate the effectiveness of these modified robots. It is clear that these well-designed robots can work efficiently for the CBRNE response activities

Fine mapping and candidate gene analysis of gynoecy trait in chieh-qua (Benincasa hispida Cogn. var. chieh-qua How)

Gynoecy demonstrates an earlier production of hybrids and a higher yield and improves the efficiency of hybrid seed production. Therefore, the utilization of gynoecy is beneficial for the genetic breeding of chieh-qua. However, little knowledge of gynoecious-related genes in chieh-qua has been reported until now. Here, we used an F2 population from the cross between the gynoecious line ‘A36’ and the monoecious line ‘SX’ for genetic mapping and revealed that chieh-qua gynoecy was regulated by a single recessive gene. We fine-mapped it into a 530-kb region flanked by the markers Indel-3 and KASP145 on Chr.8, which harbors eight candidate genes. One of the candidate genes, Bhi08G000345, encoding networked protein 4 (CqNET4), contained a non-synonymous SNP resulting in the amino acid substitution of isoleucine (ATA; I) to methionine (ATG; M). CqNET4 was prominently expressed in the female flower, and only three genes related to ethylene synthesis were significantly expressed between ‘A36’ and ‘SX.’ The results presented here provide support for the CqNET4 as the most likely candidate gene for chieh-qua gynoecy, which differed from the reported gynoecious genes

Forgiveness in Work Relationships: Causes and Consequences

Good and stable social relationships at work are essential for employees’ well-being and performance. However, the occurrence of workplace conflicts is inevitable. How can employees maintain a happy and healthy working life with good and stable work relationships in the face of workplace conflict? Forgiveness might be a way to address this challenge. The current dissertation presents four empirical chapters to better understand the causes and consequences of forgiveness in work relationships. We thereby focused on three questions: (1) Is forgiveness in work relationships associated with better work outcomes? (2) How does forgiveness develop in work relationships? And (3) What factors determine forgiveness in work relationships? The results revealed that forgiveness in work relationships was indeed associated with better work outcomes, such as higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of burnout. Moreover, the associations between forgiveness and work outcomes were more evident in work relationships of relatively high (but not low) quality. In addition, employees’ willingness to forgive an offending coworker appeared to remain stable over a four-week period. Finally, we found that organizational factors, such as a forgiving climate and a team’s social cohesion, as well as whether a leader is forgiving and gives forgiving instructions to employees, were positively associated with more forgiveness among employees. The results reported in this dissertation demonstrate that forgiveness is a highly successful and effective strategy for dealing constructively with conflicts. It may be the key to protecting and maintaining work relationships that are so important to our well-being at work

Forgiveness in Work Relationships: Causes and Consequences

Good and stable social relationships at work are essential for employees’ well-being and performance. However, the occurrence of workplace conflicts is inevitable. How can employees maintain a happy and healthy working life with good and stable work relationships in the face of workplace conflict? Forgiveness might be a way to address this challenge. The current dissertation presents four empirical chapters to better understand the causes and consequences of forgiveness in work relationships. We thereby focused on three questions: (1) Is forgiveness in work relationships associated with better work outcomes? (2) How does forgiveness develop in work relationships? And (3) What factors determine forgiveness in work relationships? The results revealed that forgiveness in work relationships was indeed associated with better work outcomes, such as higher levels of job satisfaction and lower levels of burnout. Moreover, the associations between forgiveness and work outcomes were more evident in work relationships of relatively high (but not low) quality. In addition, employees’ willingness to forgive an offending coworker appeared to remain stable over a four-week period. Finally, we found that organizational factors, such as a forgiving climate and a team’s social cohesion, as well as whether a leader is forgiving and gives forgiving instructions to employees, were positively associated with more forgiveness among employees. The results reported in this dissertation demonstrate that forgiveness is a highly successful and effective strategy for dealing constructively with conflicts. It may be the key to protecting and maintaining work relationships that are so important to our well-being at work

Image Registration and Fusion of Visible and Infrared Integrated Camera for Medium-Altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Remote Sensing

This study proposes a novel method for image registration and fusion via commonly used visible light and infrared integrated cameras mounted on medium-altitude unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).The innovation of image registration lies in three aspects. First, it reveals how complex perspective transformation can be converted to simple scale transformation and translation transformation between two sensor images under long-distance and parallel imaging conditions. Second, with the introduction of metadata, a scale calculation algorithm is designed according to spatial geometry, and a coarse translation estimation algorithm is presented based on coordinate transformation. Third, the problem of non-strictly aligned edges in precise translation estimation is solved via edge–distance field transformation. A searching algorithm based on particle swarm optimization is introduced to improve efficiency. Additionally, a new image fusion algorithm is designed based on a pulse coupled neural network and nonsubsampled contourlet transform to meet the special requirements of preserving color information, adding infrared brightness information, improving spatial resolution, and highlighting target areas for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. A medium-altitude UAV is employed to collect datasets. The result is promising, especially in applications that involve other medium-altitude or high-altitude UAVs with similar system structures

The Benefits of Forgiveness at Work: A Longitudinal Investigation of the Time-Lagged Relations Between Forgiveness and Work Outcomes

Forgiveness has received increasing attention in the work context. Although recent cross-sectional studies have found a positive link between forgiveness and work outcomes, further research examining the temporal dynamics between these variables is needed to establish causality. This preregistered panel study investigated the time-lagged relations between forgiveness and work outcomes, and specifically addressed the question whether forgiving a coworker benefits work outcomes. Longitudinal survey data were collected at four time points among 139 Chinese employees working at least 20 hours per week. Results from cross-lagged panel models revealed that forgiving an offending coworker with whom one has a relatively good work relationship predicted better work outcomes (i.e., higher job satisfaction, higher work engagement, and lower burnout) over time, while controlling for perceived severity of the offense. Evidence for the reverse effect (with work outcomes predicting forgiveness) was not found. Our findings thus suggest that forgiveness facilitates well-being-related work outcomes. Implications for a better understanding of forgiveness in work relationships are discussed

When work relationships matter: Interpersonal forgiveness and work outcomes

Although the topic of forgiveness has received abundant attention in research on close relationships, little is known about the benefits of forgiveness in work relationships. This is unfortunate because research suggests that forgiveness is associated with numerous beneficial outcomes, such as improved social relationships and psychological well-being. The present research addresses the question whether and when forgiveness is associated with enhanced work outcomes. It was expected that forgiveness is associated with better work outcomes, especially when perceived work relationship quality between victim and offender is strong rather than weak. Study 1 (n = 472 MTurk participants) revealed that trait forgiveness was strongly associated with a broad range of work outcomes. Study 2 (n = 216 Dutch working employees) showed that state forgiveness was negatively associated with burnout. Study 3 (n = 370 Prolific participants) replicated the positive association between forgiveness (both trait and state) and work outcomes (especially well-being-related work outcomes, that is, job satisfaction, work engagement, and less burnout). Moreover, the associations between state forgiveness and work outcomes were stronger when the quality of work relationships (i.e., exchange quality) was high rather than low. Furthermore, only in cases of high exchange quality, the positive association between trait forgiveness and work outcomes could be explained by higher levels of state forgiveness. These findings suggest that levels of work relationship quality are of great importance to better understand forgiveness in the work context. Implications of these findings for the role of interpersonal forgiveness in the work context are discussed. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved

Synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, and osteitis (SAPHO) syndrome with remarkably elevated serum IgG4

Synovitis, acne, pustulosis, hyperostosis, and osteitis (SAPHO) syndrome is a rare inflammatory disorder with unknown etiology, while the evidence of the association between IgG4 and inflammatory disorders is accumulating. We present the first report of a patient with SAPHO syndrome with remarkably elevated serum IgG4. The clinical features of this 45-year-old male patient included pain of the anterior chest wall and right elbow, bone marrow edema in the ulna suggested by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the “bull’s head” sign on the bone scintigraphy, and remarkably increased IgG4 and interleukin-6. This report may indicate a spectrum of diseases with serum IgG4 elevation broader than previously reported. Moreover, it also provides information on the underlying abnormal immune response in SAPHO syndrome

aspectratiodependentoscillatorythermocapillaryconvectioninthefloatinghalfzonet

The dependency of the critical Marangoni number on the geometrical aspect ratio of the floating half zone is essential to predict the onset of oscillatory thermocapillary convection. The experimental studies in the microgravity conditions on floating half zones of several centimeters in diameter have predicted that the critical Marangoni number increases with the increasing aspect ratio, and the terrestrial experimental studies have predicted the contradictory conclusion for floating half zones of several millimeters in diameter. In the present work, terrestrial experimental studies were conducted on the floating half zones of 5 Centistokes (cSt) silicon oil and 10 cSt silicon oil. The experimental results show that the critical Marangoni number generally increases with the increasing aspect ratio of the floating half zone and then decreases. Moreover, a further increase of the critical Marangoni number with the increasing aspect ratio occurs for the slender floating half zone