The Use of Service Robots in Service Delivery : A Review of the Literature

Service robots as emerging service providers, in combination with novel technologies like artificial intelligence, have the potential to enhance service outcomes and customer experience and may already be transforming the service delivery process. At present, the study focused on service robots has matured sufficiently to warrant an overview of the research on the ways in which service robots have been employed. This study conducts a systematic literature review of the academic corpus focused on service robots (N = 28). We report the research methods, application contexts and robot types of service robot research to understand how service robots participate in service delivery, what technological characteristics of service robots are commonly analyzed, and the potential service outcomes of service robot use. This review shows that overall, service robots have a high potential to delivery services in service contexts, and will be widely used and bring more rich service experience to people.publishedVersionPeer reviewe

Flow-through anastomosis using a T-shaped vascular pedicle for gracilis functioning free muscle transplantation in brachial plexus injury

OBJECTIVE: In gracilis functioning free muscle transplantation, the limited caliber of the dominant vascular pedicle increases the complexity of the anastomosis and the risk of vascular compromise. The purpose of this study was to characterize the results of using a T-shaped vascular pedicle for flow-through anastomosis in gracilis functioning free muscle transplantation for brachial plexus injury. METHODS: The outcomes of patients with brachial plexus injury who received gracilis functioning free muscle transplantation with either conventional end-to-end anastomosis or flow-through anastomosis from 2005 to 2013 were retrospectively compared. In the flow-through group, the pedicle comprised a segment of the profunda femoris and the nutrient artery of the gracilis. The recipient artery was interposed by the T-shaped pedicle. RESULTS: A total of 46 patients received flow-through anastomosis, and 25 patients received conventional end-to-end anastomosis. The surgical time was similar between the groups. The diameter of the arterial anastomosis in the flow-through group was significantly larger than that in the end-to-end group (3.87 mm vs. 2.06 mm, respectively,

Distinguishing Emission-Associated Ambient Air PM2.5 Concentrations and Meteorological Factor-Induced Fluctuations

Although PM2.5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2.5 μm) in the air originates from emissions, its concentrations are often affected by confounding meteorological effects. Therefore, direct comparisons of PM2.5 concentrations made across two periods, which are commonly used by environmental protection administrations to measure the effectiveness of mitigation efforts, can be misleading. Here, we developed a two-step method to distinguish the significance of emissions and meteorological factors and assess the effectiveness of emission mitigation efforts. We modeled ambient PM2.5 concentrations from 1980 to 2014 based on three conditional scenarios: realistic conditions, fixed emissions, and fixed meteorology. The differences found between the model outputs were analyzed to quantify the relative contributions of emissions and meteorological factors. Emission-related gridded PM2.5 concentrations excluding the meteorological effects were predicted using multivariate regression models, whereas meteorological confounding effects on PM2.5 fluctuations were characterized by probabilistic functions. When the regression models and probabilistic functions were combined, fluctuations in the PM2.5 concentrations induced by emissions and meteorological factors were quantified for all model grid cells and regions. The method was then applied to assess the historical and future trends of PM2.5 concentrations and potential fluctuations on global, national, and city scales. The proposed method may thus be used to assess the effectiveness of mitigation actions

Interferon-alpha responsible EPN3 regulates hepatitis B virus replication

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection remains a major health problem worldwide, and the current antiviral therapy, including nucleoside analogs, cannot achieve life-long cure, and clarification of antiviral host immunity is necessary for eradication. Here, we found that a clathrin-binding membrane protein epsin3 (EPN3) negatively regulates the expression of HBV RNA. EPN3 expression was induced by transfection of an HBV replicon plasmid, and reduced HBV-RNA level in hepatic cell lines and murine livers hydrodynamically injected with the HBV replicon plasmid. Viral RNA reduction by EPN3 was dependent on transcription, and independent from epsilon structure of viral RNA. Viral RNA reduction by overexpression of p53 or IFN-α treatment, was attenuated by knockdown of EPN3, suggesting its role downstream of IFN-α and p53. Taken together, this study demonstrates the anti-HBV role of EPN3. The mechanism how it decreases HBV transcription is discussed

Assessment of Strong Earthquake Risk in Maqin–Maqu Segment of the Eastern Kunlun Fault, Northeast Tibet Plateau

The East Kunlun Fault Zone, as a highly seismically active fault, has witnessed five earthquakes with magnitudes exceeding M7.0 to the west of Animaqing Mountain since 1900. Conversely, the historical records for the Maqin–Maqu segment in the east of Animaqing Mountain show no M7.0 or above earthquakes, designating it as a distinctive seismic gap within this fault zone. We analyzed the tectonic background and structural features of the Maqin–Maqu segment within the East Kunlun Fault Zone to evaluate its potential seismic capacity. Utilizing a new established probability recurrence model, we calculated the seismic hazard for both segments over the next 100 years. The results indicate that the probability of M7.0 or above earthquake occurring in the Maqu segment in the next 100 years is 11.47%, classified as a moderate probability event. The joint probability of at least one M7.0 or above strong earthquake occurring in the entire Maqin–Maqu segment in the next 100 years is 16.14%, also classified as a moderate probability event, while the probability for the Maqin segment alone is 5.36%, classified as a low probability event. Considering the uncertainty of the probability model, a qualitative hazard classification for each segment was further conducted. The comprehensive evaluation suggests a low risk of a major earthquake occurring in the Maqin segment in the next 100 years, while the Maqu segment is assessed to have a higher risk

The Use of Service Robots in Service Delivery: A Review of the Literature

Service robots as emerging service providers, in combination with novel technologies like artificial intelligence, have the potential to enhance service outcomes and customer experience and may already be transforming the service delivery process. At present, the study focused on service robots has matured sufficiently to warrant an overview of the research on the ways in which service robots have been employed. This study conducts a systematic literature review of the academic corpus focused on service robots (N = 28). We report the research methods, application contexts and robot types of service robot research to understand how service robots participate in service delivery, what technological characteristics of service robots are commonly analyzed, and the potential service outcomes of service robot use. This review shows that overall, service robots have a high potential to delivery services in service contexts, and will be widely used and bring more rich service experience to people

Polyvinyl Alcohol Microspheres Reinforced Thermoplastic Starch Composites

We reported a new method to prepare polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/thermoplastic starch (TPS) composites by using polyvinyl alcohol microspheres (PVAMS). The PVAMS/TPS composites were characterized using tensile test, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The results exhibited that adding small amounts of PVAMSs can effectively improve the mechanical strength and toughness of the composites, especially for the 1 wt %PVAMS in TPS matrix, with a tensile strength of 3.5 MPa, an elongation at break at 71.73% and an impact strength of 33.4 kJ/m2. Furthermore, the SEM and shift in the tan δ peak (Tα and Tβ) at the maximum value of 69.87 and −36.52 °C indicates that the PVAMS decreased the mobility of the amorphous starch molecules due to the strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds between PVAMS and TPS. The peak temperature of maximum decomposition rate (Tp) of 1 wt % PVAMS/TPS composites increased about 5 °C compared with TPS in TGA curves

Effects of Molar Ratio and pH on the Condensed Structures of Melamine-Formaldehyde Polymers

The base-catalyzed melamine-formaldehyde (MF) reactions were studied in both diluted and concentrated solutions. The influences of F/M molar ratio and pH on the polymer structures were investigated based on the quantitative 13C-NMR analysis. The results show that both F/M molar ratio and pH influence the competitive formation of ether and methylene bridges. For the cases of F/M = 2.0, and 3.0, methylene bridge formation is minor in contrast to ether bridges either at pH = 9.3⁻9.8 or at 7.3⁻7.8. When the molar ratio was lowered to 1.0, methylene bridges became competitive with ether bridges at pH = 9.3⁻9.8, but the latter is still more favorable. When the lower molar ratio overlaps with the lower pH, significant changes were found. The content of methlylene bridges was over three times that of ether bridges with M/F = 1.0 and at pH = 7.3⁻7.8. The results in this study were compared with those previously obtained for base-catalyzed urea-formaldehyde reactions. It was found that molar ratio and pH influence the structures of the MF and UF polymers in similar ways. The different synthesis conditions of UF and MF resin were also addressed by comparing the structures of UF polymers with MF polymers

Features of terraces and the incision rate along the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River east of Namche Barwa: Constraints on tectonic uplift

Along the lower reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River, scattered alluvium sections appear on T1 and T2 terraces. The alluvial deposits on the T1 terrace in Linduo and Ximogou and the T2 terrace in Guoguotang are composed principally of coarse-grained sand particles and rock fragments, with no observable fine-grained components. The T1 terrace alluvium section is dominated by clay and silt and occurs near the town of Dexing, and optically stimulated luminescence dating of sample from this site revealed an age of 18.2 kyear, which indicates that the incision rate of the Yarlung Zangbo River has been 4.7 mm/year since the formation of this section. On the basis of the component characteristics of terraces in Motuo County, the provenance for the terraces is probably related to the breaking of the palaeo-dammed lakes in the middle reaches of the Yarlung Zangbo River. A 430 m elevation difference still exists between the study area and the local base level downstream of the Yalung Zangbo River (Assam Plain), although this river has a strong incision capability (4.7 mm/year), which suggests that tectonic uplift remains very intense east of the Namche Barwa syntaxis