Towards ethical framework for personal care robots:Review and reflection

In recent decades, robots have been used noticeably at various industries. Autonomous robots have been embedded in human lives especially in elderly and disabled lives. Elderly population is growing worldwide significantly; therefore there is an increased need of personal care robots to enhance mobility and to promote independence. A great number of aging and disabled hold appeals for using robots in daily routine tasks as well as for various healthcare matters. It is essential to follow a proper framework in ethics of robot design to fulfill individual needs, whilst considering potential harmful effects of robots. This paper primarily focuses on the existing issues in robot ethics including general ethics theories and ethics frameworks for robots. Consequentialism ethics will be recommended to be applied in robot ethics frameworks

Spatial, temporal, and demographic patterns in prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden in 204 countries and territories, 1990-2019 : a systematic analysis from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Ending the global tobacco epidemic is a defining challenge in global health. Timely and comprehensive estimates of the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden are needed to guide tobacco control efforts nationally and globally. Methods We estimated the prevalence of smoking tobacco use and attributable disease burden for 204 countries and territories, by age and sex, from 1990 to 2019 as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study. We modelled multiple smoking-related indicators from 3625 nationally representative surveys. We completed systematic reviews and did Bayesian meta-regressions for 36 causally linked health outcomes to estimate non-linear dose-response risk curves for current and former smokers. We used a direct estimation approach to estimate attributable burden, providing more comprehensive estimates of the health effects of smoking than previously available. Findings Globally in 2019, 1.14 billion (95% uncertainty interval 1.13-1.16) individuals were current smokers, who consumed 7.41 trillion (7.11-7.74) cigarette-equivalents of tobacco in 2019. Although prevalence of smoking had decreased significantly since 1990 among both males (27.5% [26. 5-28.5] reduction) and females (37.7% [35.4-39.9] reduction) aged 15 years and older, population growth has led to a significant increase in the total number of smokers from 0.99 billion (0.98-1.00) in 1990. Globally in 2019, smoking tobacco use accounted for 7.69 million (7.16-8.20) deaths and 200 million (185-214) disability-adjusted life-years, and was the leading risk factor for death among males (20.2% [19.3-21.1] of male deaths). 6.68 million [86.9%] of 7.69 million deaths attributable to smoking tobacco use were among current smokers. Interpretation In the absence of intervention, the annual toll of 7.69 million deaths and 200 million disability-adjusted life-years attributable to smoking will increase over the coming decades. Substantial progress in reducing the prevalence of smoking tobacco use has been observed in countries from all regions and at all stages of development, but a large implementation gap remains for tobacco control. Countries have a dear and urgent opportunity to pass strong, evidence-based policies to accelerate reductions in the prevalence of smoking and reap massive health benefits for their citizens. Copyright (C) 2021 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.Peer reviewe

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe

Technology adoption in New Zealand pastoral-based system: A study of Automatic Milking System (AMS) : A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Lincoln University

New Zealand dairy farming is a primary industry suppling 3% of the world’s milk. One of the primary tasks in traditional herringbone and rotary milking systems is to milk the cows. As milking can occur up to three times a day, this is a very labour-intensive task. In pastoral-based farming systems, this task accounts for up to 33% of the total labour input. Milking often occurs outside traditional work hours which makes it difficult to attract and retain workers. The Automatic Milking System (AMS) almost eliminates the labour associated with traditional milking systems. While this system has been widely used in European countries where the dairy cows are kept indoors, there has been a much lower rate of adoption in countries like New Zealand practicing pastoral-based systems. This study investigates the characteristics of the farmers who have and have not adopted AMS in New Zealand pastoral-based dairy farms and the factors which facilitate or hinder AMS adoption. This study included two stages of interviews. Three farmers who had adopted AMS participated in the first interview. The results from this stage, along with a review of the existing literature, were used to develop the second stage interviews. This second stage used the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). A further seven farmers who had adopted AMS and 13 who had not adopted AMS participated in the second interview. The results showed that adoption is not necessarily linked to high levels of education. The interviewed farmers, however, did have long-term experience in dairying. Most had no identified successor. Factors related to the farm (location, production level and system, and cow breed) were found to have little or no influence on AMS adoption. The animal health and welfare factors that had the greatest influence on AMS adopters and the highest potential for non-adopters were better animal welfare, more relaxed cows, treating cows as individuals, enabling a farmer to make better decisions about individual dairy cows, and reducing rates of lameness. The social factors that had an influence were having a new experience and challenges, providing a more relaxed operation system, providing a better lifestyle, improved work conditions, and flexible work hours. In terms of who influenced the decision to adopt AMS, the interviews revealed that only publicity materials provided by AMS suppliers were found to have an influence on farmers’ decisions to install this system. While the AMS requires changes to farm layout, infrastructure, grazing systems, 24/7 monitoring, skilled labour, and support from AMS suppliers, the farmers did not find it difficult to institute these changes or meet these requirements. The farmers who had not adopted AMS had similar levels of education as those who had adopted AMS. Six had possibly and definitely identified a successor. While these farmers had positive attitudes towards AMS’ social and animal health and welfare benefits, they were not convinced that the system would provide greater economic benefits. They were not influenced by others’ opinions on AMS adoption, stating that they only considered it after reading printed and online articles. Despite believing that AMS provides social and animal health and welfare benefits, these farmers believe that it is complex to install, it has high capital costs, and requires major changes in the farm layout and operation system. Farmers who had adopted AMS wanted a better lifestyle and were interested in improving animal health and welfare. They saw AMS as a way to work with more flexible working days and hours. After installation, they confirmed that AMS improves animal health and welfare and does not prevent them from observing the cows or spotting problems. They also noted that the improved profits and financial returns and reduced milking shed operation and maintenance costs do not necessarily outweigh AMS’ high capital costs. While these economic factors, including the high capital cost, were not prohibitive for them, this was not the case for the farmers who had not adopted AMS. In this study, AMS farmers found AMS as an information-intensive technology complex to install. It took one of them almost two years to learn the system. The information-intensive technologies have a lower adoption rate as compared to embodied technologies. Similar to this study, non-AMS farmers found that it is complex to install AMS and this was one of the barriers to AMS non-adopters

Assistive Robotic and ethical Norms: State of the Art Survey

Over the past decades, autonomous robots have embedded themselves into human lives in various forms. Although there have been limited number of research studies in this discipline, yet the results of scholars’ studies reveal that humans especially older adults and people with disabilities have benefited from the use of robots in their daily lives. Over the next decades, number of elderly will be growing; therefore, there will be a high demand for assistive robots to enhance mobility and promote independence. The topic to what extend assistive robots should be empowered in daily life is of great concern in robotic discipline. Robot ethics have a dominant role in forming norms for design, use, disposal, and deployment of assistive robots. This paper reviews design ethics of assistive and autonomous medical robot for elderly and disabled

A Methodology for Automated Verification of Synthesized RTL Designs and Its Integration with a High-Level Synthesis Tool

High-level synthesis tools generate rtl designs from algorithmic behavioral speci cations and consist of well de ned tasks. Widely used algorithms for these tasks retain the overall control ow structure of the behavioral speci cation allowing limited code motion. Further, hls algorithms are oblivious to the mathematical properties of arithmetic and logic operators, selecting and sharing rtl library modules solely based on matching uninterpreted function symbols and constants. This paper reports a veri cation methodology that eectively exploits these features to achieve ecient and fully automated veri cation of synthesized designs and its incorporation in a relatively mature hls tool

Automated Correctness Condition Generation for Formal Verification of Synthesized RTL Designs

High-level synthesis tools generate register-transfer level designs from algorithmic behavioral specifications. High-level synthesis process typically consists of dependency graph scheduling, functional unit allocation, register allocation, interconnect allocation and controller generation tasks. Widely used algorithms for these tasks retain the overall control flow structure of the behavioral specification allowing code motion only within basic blocks. Further, high-level synthesis algorithms are oblivious to the mathematical properties of arithmetic and logic operators. Selecting and sharing of rtl library modules are solely based on matching uninterpreted function symbols and constants. Many researchers have noted that these features of high-level synthesis algorithms can be exploited to develop efficient verification strategies for synthesized designs. This paper reports a verification technique that effectively exploits these features to achieve efficient and fully automated verification of synthesized designs and its incorporation in a high-level synthesis tool

Respiratory problems among cotton textile workers

Background: Long term occupational exposure to cotton dust is associated with respiratory symptoms and loss of pulmonary function. Aim: This study was conducted to explore respiratory symptoms, pulmonary function tests and chest radiography of workers, and to evaluate the findings of high resolution computed tomographyand its correlation with pulmonary function tests (PFT). Material and Methods: The study was conducted on 100 cotton workers as exposed group and 100 unexposed subjects. Smokers were excluded from the study. All workers were interviewed and examined by the pulmonologist. PFT and chest radiography were conducted for all subjects. HRCT was performed for those with abnormal PFT or chest radiography. Results: A total of 51% and 31% of the cotton textile workers had one or more respiratory symptoms and respiratory signs respectively. 28% of subjects in the exposed group and 5% of subjects in unexposed group had obstructive pattern. Bronchia wall thickening and air trapping were the most frequent chest radiography and HRCT abnormalities respectively. There was a significant correlation between HRCT and the results of PFT. Conclusion: We conclude that long term exposure to cotton dust is associated with obstructive disease that increase with duration of exposure (history of working years), also use of HRCT as a sensitive tool in the assessment of pathologic changes and it's correlation with PFT, confirms the expected pathophysiology of airway obstruction in cotton workers