Transformation of Robotics Education in the Era of Covid-19: Challenges and Opportunities

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted many aspects of our social and professional life. To this end, Higher Education institutions reacted rather vastly to this unpreceded situation although many issues have been reported in the international literature since the emergence of the first global lockdown. As we are now transitioning back to the ‘normality’, universities and businesses consider the so-called ‘blended’ or ‘hybrid’ model as a means of facilitating the transition phase. In view of this decision, several studies can be identified wherein blended learning scenarios are proposed and described. The present work constitutes such an effort. Precisely, while adjusting the lens to the didactic of Robotics courses, we propose a blended learning model via which the laboratory activities are performed without the physical presence of the students in the physical context. The aforementioned objective is attained under the aid of the Virtual Reality technology coupled with the Digital Twin model. We hope that the ideas presented in this manuscript will motivate and inspire more researchers, instructional designers, and educators to consider the adoption of such alternative instructional techniques to mitigate the shortcomings that the remote education setting brings and further to improve the overall learning experience

Risk factors for infections due to carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae after open heart surgery

OBJECTIVES Patients undergoing major surgery are at increased risk of developing infections due to resistant organisms, including carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CR-Kp). In this study, we assessed risk factors for CR-Kp infections after open heart surgery in a teaching hospital in northern Italy. METHODS A retrospective study was conducted from January to December 2014. The primary outcome measure was postoperative CR-Kp infection, defined as a time-to-event end-point. The effect of potentially related variables was assessed by univariable and multivariable analyses. Secondary end-points were in-hospital mortality and 180-day postoperative mortality. RESULTS Among 553 patients undergoing open heart surgery, 32 developed CR-Kp infections (6%). In the final multivariable model, CR-Kp colonization [hazard ratio (HR) 227.45, 95% confidence intervals (CI) 67.13-1225.20, P < 0.001], cardiopulmonary bypass time in minutes (HR 1.01, 95% CI 1.01-1.02, P < 0.001), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (HR 3.99, 95% CI 1.61-9.45, P = 0.004), SOFA score (HR 1.29, 95% CI 1.08-1.53, P = 0.007), preoperative mechanical ventilation (HR 8.10, 95% CI 1.31-48.57, P = 0.026), prolonged mechanical ventilation (HR 2.48, 95% CI 1.08-6.15, P = 0.032) and female sex (HR 2.08, 95% CI 1.00-4.36, P = 0.049) were associated with the development of CR-Kp infection. Increased in-hospital mortality and 180-day mortality were observed in patients who developed CR-Kp infections in comparison with those who did not. CONCLUSIONS In our cohort, CR-Kp colonization was an important predictor of CR-Kp infection after open heart surgery. CR-Kp infection after surgery significantly affected survival. Preventing colonization is conceivably the most effective current strategy to reduce the impact of CR-Kp

A Cloud-to-Edge Approach to Support Predictive Analytics in Robotics Industry

Data management and processing to enable predictive analytics in cyber physical systems holds the promise of creating insight over underlying processes, discovering anomalous behaviours and predicting imminent failures threatening a normal and smooth production process. In this context, proactive strategies can be adopted, as enabled by predictive analytics. Predictive analytics in turn can make a shift in traditional maintenance approaches to more effective optimising their cost and transforming maintenance from a necessary evil to a strategic business factor. Empowered by the aforementioned points, this paper discusses a novel methodology for remaining useful life (RUL) estimation enabling predictive maintenance of industrial equipment using partial knowledge over its degradation function and the parameters that are affecting it. Moreover, the design and prototype implementation of a plug-n-play end-to-end cloud architecture, supporting predictive maintenance of industrial equipment is presented integrating the aforementioned concept as a service. This is achieved by integrating edge gateways, data stores at both the edge and the cloud, and various applications, such as predictive analytics, visualization and scheduling, integrated as services in the cloud system. The proposed approach has been implemented into a prototype and tested in an industrial use case related to the maintenance of a robotic arm. Obtained results show the effectiveness and the efficiency of the proposed methodology in supporting predictive analytics in the era of Industry 4.0

Operationalizing mild cognitive impairment criteria in small vessel disease: The VMCI-Tuscany Study

Introduction Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) prodromic of vascular dementia is expected to have a multidomain profile. Methods In a sample of cerebral small vessel disease (SVD) patients, we assessed MCI subtypes distributions according to different operationalization of Winblad criteria and compared the neuroimaging features of single versus multidomain MCI. We applied three MCI diagnostic scenarios in which the cutoffs for objective impairment and the number of considered neuropsychological tests varied. Results Passing from a liberal to more conservative diagnostic scenarios, of 153 patients, 5% were no longer classified as MCI, amnestic multidomain frequency decreased, and nonamnestic single domain increased. Considering neuroimaging features, severe medial temporal lobe atrophy was more frequent in multidomain compared with single domain. Discussion Operationalizing MCI criteria changes the relative frequency of MCI subtypes. Nonamnestic single domain MCI may be a previously nonrecognized type of MCI associated with SVD

10th IFAC Conference on Manufacturing Modelling, Management and Control MIM 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted many aspects of our social and professional life. To this end, Higher Education institutions reacted rather vastly to this unpreceded situation although many issues have been reported in the international literature since the emergence of the first global lockdown. As we are now transitioning back to the 'normality', universities and businesses consider the so-called 'blended' or 'hybrid' model as a means of facilitating the transition phase. In view of this decision, several studies can be identified wherein blended learning scenarios are proposed and described. The present work constitutes such an effort. Precisely, while adjusting the lens to the didactic of Robotics courses, we propose a blended learning model via which the laboratory activities are performed without the physical presence of the students in the physical context. The aforementioned objective is attained under the aid of the Virtual Reality technology coupled with the Digital Twin model. We hope that the ideas presented in this manuscript will motivate and inspire more researchers, instructional designers, and educators to consider the adoption of such alternative instructional techniques to mitigate the shortcomings that the remote education setting brings and further to improve the overall learning experience. Copyright (C) 2022 The Authors

Chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency is not associated with chronic venous disorders: A case-control study

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between chronic cerebrospinal venous insufficiency (CCSVI) and the presence of a Chronic Venous Disorder (CVD). METHOD: We included 55 subjects with CCSVI aged >18 years, and 186 controls without CCSVI. Each subject was evaluated with color Doppler sonography in accordance with Zamboni's five criteria, examined by two neurologists and interviewed with an ad-hoc designed form. The neurologists and the sonographers were mutually blinded. CVD were classified according to CEAP. RESULTS: Mean age was 42 years (SD = 9) in cases and 43 years (10) in controls (p = ns). The odds ratios in subjects CCSVI were 0.6 (0.2-2.2) for CEAP 1, 0.9 (0.2-4.5) for CEAP 2, and 1.0 (0.6-1.9) for family history of varicose veins. The prevalence of CVD and, family history of varicose veins, was similar between cases and controls for each Zamboni criterion. CONCLUSIONS: We found no association of CCSVI with the presence of CVD or family history of varicose veins

Usability of the REHOME Solution for the Telerehabilitation in Neurological Diseases: Preliminary Results on Motor and Cognitive Platforms

The progressive aging of the population and the consequent growth of individuals with neurological diseases and related chronic disabilities, will lead to a general increase in the costs and resources needed to ensure treatment and care services. In this scenario, telemedicine and e-health solutions, including remote monitoring and rehabilitation, are attracting increasing interest as tools to ensure the sustainability of the healthcare system or, at least, to support the burden for health care facilities. Technological advances in recent decades have fostered the development of dedicated and innovative Information and Communication Technology (ICT) based solutions, with the aim of complementing traditional care and treatment services through telemedicine applications that support new patient and disease management strategies. This is the background for the REHOME project, whose technological solution, presented in this paper, integrates innovative methodologies and devices for remote monitoring and rehabilitation of cognitive, motor, and sleep disorders associated with neurological diseases. One of the primary goals of the project is to meet the needs of patients and clinicians, by ensuring continuity of treatment from healthcare facilities to the patient’s home. To this end, it is important to ensure the usability of the solution by elderly and pathological individuals. Preliminary results of usability and user experience questionnaires on 70 subjects recruited in three experimental trials are presented here