Contingent task and motion planning under uncertainty for human–robot interactions

Manipulation planning under incomplete information is a highly challenging task for mobile manipulators. Uncertainty can be resolved by robot perception modules or using human knowledge in the execution process. Human operators can also collaborate with robots for the execution of some difficult actions or as helpers in sharing the task knowledge. In this scope, a contingent-based task and motion planning is proposed taking into account robot uncertainty and human–robot interactions, resulting a tree-shaped set of geometrically feasible plans. Different sorts of geometric reasoning processes are embedded inside the planner to cope with task constraints like detecting occluding objects when a robot needs to grasp an object. The proposal has been evaluated with different challenging scenarios in simulation and a real environment.Postprint (published version

The effect of using flipped classroom instruction on students’ achievement in the new 2016 scholastic assessment test mathematics skills in the United Arab Emirates

The flipped classroom instruction considered as the focus of many researchers and teachers in the recent years, many teachers around the word tried the flipped classroom instructions in different ways, different tools, to teach different subjects with different grades. Taking in the consideration, applying the flipped classroom teaching methods needs a lot of preparation and technological tools. This study utilized a quasiexperimental method research design to investigate the effect of flipped classroom instruction on students’ achievements in the new SAT 2016 mathematics skills (Heart of Algebra, Problem solving and data analysis, and Passport to Advanced Math) for the eleventh grade Emirati, female students in Al Ain, United Arab Emirates. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a statistically significant difference in student achievements in the new SAT mathematics skills between two groups of grade 11 students, the experimental group was taught by flipped classroom instruction, and the control group was taught by ordinary teaching methods. The result of the posttest showed a statistically significant point of preference for the experimental group over the control group in all of the new SAT mathematics skills except the problem solving and data analysis skills. Finally, study findings suggest that teachers who are teaching mathematics standardized test skills like SAT may use flipped classroom instruction to increase the students’ readiness and to improve the students’ thinking skills to simulate the 21st-century skills. After offering a proper training and professional development courses in the best practice of flipped classroom instruction

Automatic generation of behavior trees for the execution of robotic manipulation tasks

© 2021 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting /republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other worksRobots should be able to exercise reasoning in both symbolic and geometric levels in order to plan a manipulation task. The execution of such tasks needs to be robust enough to cope with real environments. In an attempt to address this pertinent industry need, the paper proposes the use of behavior trees for effective robotic manipulation in dynamic environments. This paper presents a method to automatically generate a behavior tree and showcases its ability to enable the robot to reason at different levels and adapt to an uncertain and changing environment. This allows for a complex task to be robustly executed, pioneering the advancement towards fully functional service robots.Peer ReviewedPostprint (author's final draft

The principles of measurement and evaluation from the perspective of the Holy Quran (analytic study)

This study aims at finding out the principles of measurement and evaluation from the perspective of the Holy Koran through analyzing the content of Koranic verses related to the terminology of measurement and evaluation.  The study is distinguished from other studies in that it elicits fixed principles and characteristics of measurement and evaluation directly from the Koran and away of humanistic interpretations that are liable to change now and then. The results of the study show that there are a number of permanent and comprehensive basics of measurement and evaluation including: the principle of purposeful creation and succession in the ground, and the principle of unity, and  balance. The study also reveals that there are many characteristics related to measurement and evaluation. That is, it is a process which is comprehensive, balanced, objective, flexible, positively and cooperative in which all concerned  parties take part. It aims at well-function, is related to morals, and is a permanent process. In the light of study findings a number of recommendations are suggested. Keywords:  Measurement and Evaluation, the Holy Koran.

Reasoning and state monitoring for the robust execution of robotic manipulation tasks

The execution of robotic manipulation tasks needs to be robust in front of failures or changes in the environment, and for this purpose, Behavior Trees (BT) are a good alternative to Finite State Machines, because the ability of BTs to be edited during run time and the fact that one can design reactive systems with BTs, makes the BT executor a robust execution manager. However, the good monitoring of the system state is required in order to react to errors at either geometric or symbolic level requiring, respectively, replanning at motion or at task level. This paper make a proposal in this line and, moreover, makes task planning adaptive to the actual situations encountered by knowledge-based reasoning procedures to automatically generate the Planning Domain Definition Language (PDDL) files that define the task.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Antioxidant Categories and Mode of Action

Oxidative stress has received a considerable scientific attention as a mediator in the etiology of many human diseases. Oxidative stress is the result of an imbalance between free radicals and antioxidants. Cells can be damaged by free radicals that are considered to play a main role in the aging process and diseases development. Antioxidants are the first line of defense against the detrimental effects of free radical damage, and it is essential to maintain optimal health via different mechanisms of action. Types of antioxidants range from those generated endogenously by the body cells, to exogenous agents such as dietary supplements. Antioxidant insufficiency can be developed as a result of decreased antioxidant intake, synthesis of endogenous enzymes, or increased antioxidant utilization. To maintain optimal body function, antioxidant supplementation has become an increasingly popular practice through improving free radical protection. In this chapter, we first elucidate the oxidative stress, and then define the antioxidant and its categories. Finally, introduce the antioxidants mode of actions for cell protection from free radicals

PMK : a knowledge processing framework for autonomous robotics perception and manipulation

Autonomous indoor service robots are supposed to accomplish tasks, like serve a cup, which involve manipulation actions. Particularly, for complex manipulation tasks which are subject to geometric constraints, spatial information and a rich semantic knowledge about objects, types, and functionality are required, together with the way in which these objects can be manipulated. In this line, this paper presents an ontological-based reasoning framework called Perception and Manipulation Knowledge (PMK) that includes: (1) the modeling of the environment in a standardized way to provide common vocabularies for information exchange in human-robot or robot-robot collaboration, (2) a sensory module to perceive the objects in the environment and assert the ontological knowledge, (3) an evaluation-based analysis of the situation of the objects in the environment, in order to enhance the planning of manipulation tasks. The paper describes the concepts and the implementation of PMK, and presents an example demonstrating the range of information the framework can provide for autonomous robots.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Automating adaptive execution behaviors for robot manipulation

Robotic manipulation in semi-structured and changing environments requires systems with: a) perception and reasoning capabilities able to capture and understand the state of the environment; b) planning and replanning capabilities at both symbolic and geometric levels; c) automatic and robust execution capabilities. To cope with these issues, this paper presents a framework with the following features. First, it uses perception and ontology-based reasoning procedures to obtain the Planning Description Domain Language files that describe the manipulation problem at task level. This is used in the planning stage as well as during task execution in order to adapt to new situations, if required. Second, the proposed framework is able to plan at both task and motion levels, intertwining them by incorporating geometric reasoning modules to determine some of the symbolic predicates needed to describe the states. Finally, the framework automatically generates the behavior trees required to execute the task. The proposal takes advantage of the ability of behavior trees to be edited during run time, allowing adaptation of the action plan or of the trajectories according to changes in the state of the environment. The approach allows for robot manipulation tasks to be automatically planned and robustly executed, contributing to achieve fully functional service robots.Peer ReviewedPostprint (published version

Some Biochemical Changes Associated with Taking Oral Contraceptive Pills among Healthy Women in Gaza City

Aim: To evaluate some biochemical changes associated with oral contraceptive (OC) pills administration on healthy women in Gaza City (GC). Methodology: The study design was a case control. The sample size was 80 healthy women aged 20-35 years from the Swidey Clinic who had taken OC pills for at least three continuous cycles. The control sample was healthy married women who were not going on OC before and match the cases in age and residence. The study questionnaire included issues about the following information: age, gender, weight, height, health history, blood pressure, Nature of menstrual cycle, bleeding, insomnia, pain in the stomach, difficulty in breath, pain in hands and feet, appetite and headaches. Blood parameters analysis of the study population included complete blood count (CBC), C-reactive protein (CRP), high density lipoproteins cholesterol (HDL-C), low density lipoproteins cholesterol (LDL-C), total cholesterol (TC), and triacylglycerol (TAG). Leptin determination was carried out using a commercially available diagnostic system test kits. SPSS were used to analyze obtained data. Results: The results showed statistically significant differences among study population with respect to regular of menstrual cycle (MC) (c2=5.371, P= 0.024), increased appetite (c2= 4.386, P= 0.002), increased headache (c2= 6.82, P= 0.000), increased body mass index (c2= 7.31, P= 0.015), cholesterol were significantly higher among the cases compared to control (179.1± 4.3mg/dl vs 157.5± 4.12mg/dl, and p=0.000), LDL-C were significantly higher among the cases compared to control (97.6±3.8mg/dl vs 86.2± 3.4 mg/dl, and p=0.002), increased C-reactive protein (c2= 5.381, p= 0.034), there were a significant increase in the mean level of leptin among the cases compared to the controls (36.3± 2.3 ng/ml vs. 28.6± 2.1 ng/ml, and p= 0.003), and the levels of WBC, Gran and Mch were significantly higher among the cases (7.2±2.1 K/µL, 60.7±8.3 % and 26.9±2.2pg) compared to the controls (6.6±1.7 K/µL, 54.9±11.7 % and 25.7±3.4 pg), with p=0.001, p=0.000 and p=0.003, respectively. In contrast, the results showed no statistically significant differences among the study population with respect to frequency of bleeding (c2=0.192, P=0.135), frequency of insomnia (c2=0.411, P=0.353), pain in stomach (c2=0.386, P=0.183), difficulty in breathing(c2=0.497, P= 0.209), frequency of pain in hands and feet (c2=0.631, P= 0.309), Systolic blood pressure ((c2=2.351, P=0.139 ), diastolic blood pressure (c2=1.372, P=0.382 ), HDL-c (51.2±1.7mg/dl vs 47.6±1.3mg/dl and p=0.148), TAG (119.2± 6.0mg/dl vs 108.2± 8.6 mg/dl and p=0.218), the changes among the study population in Mid, RBc, Hb, Hct, Mcv, Mchc and PLt (7.8±8.7 %, 4.6±0.7M/µL,12.2±0.9g/dl, 38.0±2.4%, 80.8±11.9fl, 32.5±1.1g/dl and 279.3±87.6K/µL) compared to control were not significant (8.6±6.6 %, 4.6±0.47M/µL, 12.3±1.1g/dl, 37.5±3.7%, 80.6±8.5fl, 32.3±1.7g/dl and 267.8±74.0 K/µL), with p=0.352, p=0.394, p=0.387, p=0.571, p=0.415, p=0.272 and p=0.185, respectively. Moreover, the results showed strong correlation between BMI and leptin (p= 0.000) among the study population