A new finger inverse kinematics method for an anthropomorphic hand

Proceedings of: 2011 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Biomimetics (ROBIO), December 7-11, 2011, Phuket (Thailand)In this paper, a new method for solving the inverse kinematics of the fingers of an anthropomorphic hand is proposed. Our approach combines a Modified Selectively Damped Least Squares (MSDLS) and Jacobian Transpose (JT) methods. The main advantages of this method with respect to the ordinary SDLS are: optimal Cartesian increment, shorter computation time and better response near singularity configurations. The original JT method exhibits a strong shattering with small magnitudes which occurs near the goal position or in the case of unreachable positions. Like in the SDLS, a damping factor was applied to each input singular vector to filter the undesirable behavior. A comparative study between the MSDLS applied to the inverse Jacobian and JT matrix is developed to investigate manipulator performance in critical end-point positions of the index finger of a commercial anthropomorphic robotic hand and also to evaluate the impact of the increment length on computation time.European Community's Seventh Framework Progra

Le pilotage du réseau inter-organisationnel : Quelle réorganisation pour le réseau portuaire ? (L’apport de la cartographie cognitive)

La coopération inter-firmes ou réseaux inter-organisationnel a d’ores et déjà fait l’objet d’un grand nombre de travaux de recherche au sein de la théorie économique. En effet, depuis quelques années, le management inter-organisationnel tend à s’imposer comme un champ de recherche et de connaissance à part entière. Et les chercheurs dans des différents champs disciplinaires quel soit, en économie en gestion ou encore en sociologie se focalisent autour d’une même question : pourquoi les firmes coopèrent-elles ? De manière très générale, ces recherches tentent de comprendre comment, conscientes de leurs interdépendances et de leurs divergences d’intérêt, les entreprises construisent des dispositifs destinés à rendre leurs interactions efficientes. En s’inscrivant dans une perspective inter-organisationnelle, la place portuaire est une entité complexe qui s’inscrit dans une logique collective mettant en relation un ensembled’organisations indépendantes, privés et publiques, concentrées géographiquement et concourent à une même chaine de valeur (prestation de services logistiques) assimilable à bien des égards à l’entreprise réseau. Dans ce contexte naturellement multi-organisationnel, la place portuaire se trouve contrainte à gérer la diversité de ses parties prenantes dont les intérêts sont de nature conflictuelle ce qui montre le degré de complexité rencontré. L’objectif de cet article que nous avons choisi de baser sur une observation du terrain, en se focalisant notamment sur les cas du Tanger-Med et de Beni-Nsar Nador est d’identifier les mécanismes sur lesquels se fonde la coordination entre les différents acteurs de ces réseaux portuaires

Matching data detection for the integration system

The purpose of data integration is to integrate the multiple sources of heterogeneous data available on the internet, such as text, image, and video. After this stage, the data becomes large. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the data that can be used for the efficient execution of the query. However, we have problems with solving entities, so it is necessary to use different techniques to analyze and verify the data quality in order to obtain good data management. Then, when we have a single database, we call this mechanism deduplication. To solve the problems above, we propose in this article a method to calculate the similarity between the potential duplicate data. This solution is based on graphics technology to narrow the search field for similar features. Then, a composite mechanism is used to locate the most similar records in our database to improve the quality of the data to make good decisions from heterogeneous sources

Evaluation of toxicity, nephroprotective and hepatoprotective activities of Argan oil on CCl4-induced nephrotoxicity and hepatotoxicity in Wistar rats

In traditional therapy, Argania spinosa L. seeds oil used as a nephroprotective and hepatoprotective agent. The present work aims to investigate the acute toxicity of unroasted Argan oil, and studied the nephroprotective and the hepatoprotective activity of both oils Roasted (Roil) and unroasted Argan oil (UnRoil) on CCl4-induced liver and kidney damages in Wistar rats. Animals were divided into five equal groups; Control and CCl4 groups are received only distilled water (10 mL/Kg/day). Control positive group received 50 mg/Kg/day of Silymarin. Roil and UnRoil groups treated with 2 mL/Kg/day of Roil and UnRoil. One week after each pretreatment, the rats are injected intraperitoneally with 1 mL/kg/week of CCl4. The treatment has lasted for 15 days. The body weight, urinary volume, water, and food intake were measured at the end of the treatment. Then, the animals are sacrificed; the blood and the liver samples were collected for determining the liver weight ratio and biochemical parameters. UnRoil did not show any sign of toxicity up to 5 mL/Kg. In Roil and UnRoil groups the water intake, ALT, AST, total and direct bilirubin, triglycerides, LDL, plasmatic creatinine, urea, uric acid, and MDA levels are reduced significantly as compared with the CCl4 group. However, body weight,liver weight ratio, food intake, urine urea, urinary creatinine, hepatic glycogen, and GSH levels showed a significant increase compared to the CCl4 group. Roil and UnRoil showed important nephroprotective and hepatoprotective effects against CCl4. Although, the roasting process does not influence the ability of Argan seed oils towards these activities.Keywords

Drought characterization: A systematic literature review

This study examined the worsening severity of global droughts caused by climate change. However, the multiple definitions and varied range of drought indices pose challenges in effectively monitoring and assessing the prevalence and severity of droughts. This study aims to give a comprehensive overview of the various drought definitions found in the literature and how they have evolved based on their applications. Specifically, the focus was to shed light on the dynamic nature of drought characterization and offer insights into the factors that shaped its conceptualization over time. Within this context, this study explored three primary categories of drought indices: climatic, remote sensing, and composite. Each category was discussed in relation to its utility in specific fields, such as meteorological, agricultural, and hydrological drought assessments, along with an analysis of their strengths and limitations. Furthermore, this study presents modified meteorological drought indices that have been adapted to better monitor agricultural droughts. Additionally, the authors used geographic information systems to create a map showing the distribution of drought-related publications globally over the past decade. The findings showed that countries with arid and semi-arid climates are more actively involved in drought research, highlighting their particular interest and concern regarding the subject matter. The implications of this study emphasize the urgent need for immediate and coordinated efforts to address the escalating issue of droughts caused by climate change. By improving monitoring and assessment methods and focusing on tailored strategies in vulnerable regions, it is possible to mitigate the far-reaching consequences of drought and to build more resilient communities and ecosystems

Efficient Heuristic Based on Clustering Approach for OLSR

Due to the dynamic nature of mobile ad hoc network (MANET), the quality of service (QoS) requires several improvements. The present papercomeswithin the framework of research to optimize QoS in MANET. In this paper, we propose a novel version of OLSR based on the clustering approach which is inspired from Lin and Chu heuristic and adapted to beimplemented inOLSR. We studied its stability and we compared its performances to those of standard OLSR. The metrics we used in evaluating network performances were average end-to-end delay, control routing overhead, and packet delivery ratio. Experimental results show that our alternative significantly reduces the traffic reserved to monitoring the network, which positively influences other performances such as throughput, delay, and loss

Protective effect of Crocus sativus stamens extract on gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity and oxidative damage in rat kidney

Crocus sativus is a medicinal plant supposedly possessing various biological activities. Currently, it is evaluated only by the medicinal properties of its stigma and many parts of this plant are unused. This work contributes to the valorization of C.sativus stamens by exploring the property of methanolic extract to prevent gentamicin-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Twenty Wistar rats (weight 250 ± 30g) were assigned into four equal groups (n = 5), and among the assigned groups,  group 1 was given only distilled water (Control), group 2 received intraperitoneal (i.p.) injection of gentamicin (GEN) 80 mg/kg/d, group 3 received the combination of gentamicin (80 mg/kg/d, i.p.) and oral administration of a lower dose of C. sativus methanolic extract (250 mg/kg/d), while the group 4 received the combination of gentamicin (80 mg/kg/d, i.p.) and oral administration of a higher dose of C. sativus methanolic extract (500 mg/kg/d). The injection of gentamicin for the nephrotoxicity induction and post-treatment with methanolic extract was carried out once a day for 15 days. For nephrotoxicity evaluation, biochemical and histopathological analyses were performed. The estimation of serum and urinary creatinine, blood urea nitrogen, sodium levels was carried out with the help of Architect Ci 4100 Analyzer. Oxidative stress was assessed by the determination of renal malondialdehyde (MDA) and catalase (CAT) levels. The results of the study suggested that gentamicin injection induced a significant (p < 0.01) elevation in serum renal biochemical parameters and oxidative stress indices. The methanolic extract of C. sativus significantly (p < 0.05) reduced serum creatinine, urea, and sodium levels, with an improvement in the histopathological results of gentamicin-induced alterations. Furthermore, pretreatment with plant extracts improved hepatic antioxidant status, by the elevation of the CAT and reducing the lipid peroxidation level (MDA) in tissues. The present study suggests that the methanolic extract of C. sativus stamens has an interesting nephroprotective effect on the renal lesions induced by GEN in modulating renal parameters and oxidative stress on Wistar rats

Distinct and combined impacts of climate and land use scenarios on water availability and sediment loads for a water supply reservoir in northern Morocco

The objective of this study was to examine the impacts of climate and land use changes on water availability and sediment loads for a water supply reservoir in northern Morocco using data-intensive simulation models in a data-scarce region. Impacts were assessed by comparing the simulated water and sediment entering the reservoir between the future period 2031e2050 and the 1983e2010 reference period. Three scenarios of land use change and two scenarios of climate change were developed in the Tleta watershed. Simulations under current and future conditions were performed using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) model. The simulations showed that climate change will lead to a significant decrease in the annual water supply to the reservoir ( 16.9% and 27.5%) and in the annual volume of sediment entering the reservoir ( 7.4% and 12.6%), depending on the climate change scenarios tested. The three scenarios of land use change will lead to a moderate change in annual water inflow into the reservoir (between 6.7% and þ6.2%), while causing a significant decrease in sediment entering the reservoir ( 37% to 24%). The combined impacts of climate and land use changes will cause a reduction in annual water availability ( 9.9% to 33.3%) and sediment supplies ( 28.7% to 45.8%). As a result, the lifetime of the reservoir will be extended, but at the same time, the risk of water shortages will increase, especially from July to March. Therefore, alternative water resources must be considered.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Impact de l'agroforesterie sur la productivité des terres et la résilience des systèmes de production dans les zones arides du Maroc

Le contexte climatique aride du Maroc et la dégradation généralisée des ressources naturelles constituent l'origine du déclin de la production agricole. Les défis générés par cette situation encouragent le développement de technologies innovantes et durables pour maintenir et sécuriser cette production. Ces technologies doivent contribuer non seulement à l’adaptation et à l’atténuation des variations climatiques, mais aussi à répondre aux besoins (alimentation, revenus, bien-être), tout en préservant les ressources naturelles. Dans ce contexte, l’agroforesterie est une pratique agricole à recommander car elle peut répondre à de nombreux enjeux actuels (biodiversité, production diversifiée, stockage de carbone). Ce travail vise à caractériser les performances du système agroforestier dans le climat aride de l’ouest du Maroc. Pour ce faire, des comparaisons sur cinq ans entre les rendements des plantes et la composition organique et minérale du sol ont été réalisées. Pour chaque culture, les systèmes agroforestiers (SAF) ont été comparés aux systèmes de monoculture (SM). L’introduction d’arbustes et d’arbres dans les parcelles agricoles a permis d’améliorer la production et la qualité des jachères et des cultures fourragères et céréalières. En effet, contrairement à la diversité floristique des jachères qui était peu affectée par la présence d'arbres et d'arbustes, la densité et la phytomasse des plantes herbacées et des cultures intercalaires ont été améliorées. Et c'est le groupe d'arganiers et de caroubiers qui a montré les résultats les plus probants. Cela est dû à la création de conditions optimales pour la croissance des espèces végétales, notamment en termes de porosité des sols pour l’arganier et de fixation de l’azote pour le caroubier et l’arbuste de luzerne. En effet, l'utilisation d'arbustes dans les champs de céréales a montré des différences de densité très significatives, ainsi les densités de l'orge (Hordeum vulgare) en janvier (375 plants/m²) et mars (351 plants/m²) dans SAF étaient supérieures à celles de MS (350 plants/m² en janvier et 308 plants/m² en mars). De même, la biomasse et la matière sèche de l'orge (Hordeum vulgare) associées à Atriplex nummularia, étaient plus importantes en SAF qu'en MS, malgré des conditions climatiques limitantes et une éventuelle compétition entre arbres et cultures. De plus, la matière végétale présente une meilleure qualité fourragère en SAF. Nous avons également constaté que pour la matière organique et l'azote total du sol, la différence est significative entre les deux systèmes et le sol est plus riche en MO et en azote total en SAF qu'en MS. En fait, le sol de la culture d’orge pour SAF contient 4,77 % de MO contre 3,82 % pour MS. Ainsi, la plante intercalaire en SAF contient plus de MAT et une meilleure qualité nutritionnelle et le sol est plus riche en MO et en Azote total. Les systèmes agroforestiers sont donc plus productifs et efficaces et constitueraient une solution pour une production agricole durable dans les zones arides du Maroc

Impact Du Changement Climatique Sur L’évolution De L'érosivité Des Pluies Dans Le Rif Occidental (Nord Du Maroc)

The rainfall erosivity factor (R factor in Universal Soil Loss Equation), denoting rain energy, is a key factor for soil loss modeling. Its present and future estimation is thus significant for any action related to soil and water conservation and planning. The extended series of precipitations at high temporal resolution, essential to its evaluation, are not readily available in Morocco. The objective of this study is to predict the evolution of rainfall erosivity by 2080 in the Western Rif, based on predictions of daily rain provided by the General Climatic Models (GCMs). To reflect the seasonal variability of rainfall, and thus of R factor, a series of instantaneous rain measured over 35 consecutive years was used to monthly calibrate a model to calculate erosivity based of daily rainfall. The application of this model to the predictions of different GCMs and for various scenarios of climate evolution in Western Rif shows a weak evolution of erosivity on an annual timescale but a very strong evolution of the latter according to seasons with a reduction in R factor during winter and spring, and a pronounced increase during summer and autumn. This discernable change of the seasonality of rainfall erosivity is very useful for adjusting the evolution of agricultural practices and for selecting appropriate soil protection measures