MAPmAKER: performing multi-robot LTL planning under uncertainty

Robot applications are being increasingly used in real life to help humans performing dangerous, heavy, and/or monotonous tasks. They usually rely on planners that given a robot or a team of robots compute plans that specify how the robot(s) can fulfill their missions. Current robot applications ask for planners that make automated planning possible even when only partial knowledge about the environment in which the robots are deployed is available. To tackle such challenges we developed MAPmAKER, which provides a decentralized planning solution and is able to work in partially known environments. Decentralization is realized by decomposing the robotic team into subteams based on their missions, and then by running a classical planning algorithm. Partial knowledge is handled by calling several times a classical planning algorithm. Demo video available at: https://youtu.be/TJzC_u2yfzQ

Mission Specification Patterns for Mobile Robots: Providing Support for Quantitative Properties

With many applications across domains as diverse as logistics, healthcare, and agriculture, service robots are in increasingly high demand. Nevertheless, the designers of these robots often struggle with specifying their tasks in a way that is both human-understandable and sufficiently precise to enable automated verification and planning of robotic missions. Recent research has addressed this problem for the functional aspects of robotic missions through the use of mission specification patterns. These patterns support the definition of robotic missions involving, for instance, the patrolling of a perimeter, the avoidance of unsafe locations within an area, or reacting to specific events. Our paper introduces a catalog of QUantitAtive RoboTic mission spEcificaTion patterns (QUARTET) that tackles the complementary and equally important challenge of specifying the reliability, performance, resource use, and other key quantitative properties of robotic missions. Identified using a methodology that included the analysis of 73 research papers published in 17 leading software engineering and robotics venues between 2014–2021, our 22 QUARTET patterns are defined in a tool-supported domain-specific language. As such, QUARTET enables: (i) the precise definition of quantitative robotic-mission requirements; and (ii) the translation of these requirements into probabilistic reward computation tree logic (PRCTL), and thus their formal verification and the automated planning of robotic missions. We demonstrate the applicability of QUARTET by showing that it supports the specification of over 95% of the quantitative robotic mission requirements from a systematically selected set of recent research papers, of which 75% can be automatically translated into PRCTL for the purposes of verification through model checking and mission planning

Mind the gap: Robotic Mission Planning Meets Software Engineering

In the context of robotic software, the selection of an appropriate planner is one of the most crucial software engineering decisions. Robot planners aim at computing plans (i.e., blueprint of actions) to accomplish a complex mission. While many planners have been proposed in the robotics literature, they are usually evaluated on showcase examples, making hard to understand whether they can be effectively (re)used for realising complex missions, with heterogeneous robots, and in real-world scenarios. In this paper we propose ENFORCE, a framework which allows wrapping FM-based planners into comprehensive software engineering tools, and considers complex robotic missions. ENFORCE relies on (i) realistic maps (e.g, fire escape maps) that describe the environment in which the robots are deployed; (ii) temporal logic for mission specification; and (iii) Uppaal model checker to compute plans that satisfy mission specifications. We evaluated ENFORCE by analyzing how it supports computing plans in real case scenarios, and by evaluating the generated plans in simulated and real environments. The results show that while ENFORCE is adequate for handling single-robot applications, the state explosion still represents a major barrier for reusing existing planners in multi-robot applications

Physical and economicimpact of theimplementation of technologiesgrouped in yieldfactors in corn and soybeancrops in the center-north of theprovince of Córdoba, Argentina

Ponencia presentada en XI Jornadas Interdisciplinarias de Estudios Agrarios y Agroindustriales. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 5 al 8 de noviembre de 2019.Fil: Roberi, Ariel Arturo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Buffa Menghi, María Noel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Montenegro, Ariel Iván. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Arzubi, Carlos Rubén. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Díaz Yofre, Felipe. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Protección Vegetal. Manejo Integrado de Plagas; Argentina.Fil: Funes Gayoso, Francisco Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Zgrablich, Sergio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Prácticas Agrícolas; Argentina.En la provincia de Córdoba la producción de cultivos de cosecha gruesa son muy importantes para la producción agrícola nacional, si bien fue una campaña donde se notó los efectos de la sequía, en maíz para la campaña 2017/2018 con una superficie cosechada de 1.746.100hectáreas (33.5 % del país), con un rendimiento promedio de 63.7 qq/hectárea y una producción de 11.129.300toneladas (36 % del país); en cuanto a soja para la campaña 2017/2018 con una superficie cosechada de 3.561.795 hectáreas (22 % del país) con un rendimiento promedio de 22,3qq/hectáreas y una producción de 7.937.275,7toneladas (30,3 % del país). Siendo los departamentos del centro - norte de Córdoba (Santa María, Colon, Totoral, Rio Primero, Rio Segundo, Rio Seco y Tulumba) los departamentos donde se realiza los maíces tardíos. La finalidad específica de este trabajo fue evaluar los resultados físicos y económicos de los cultivos de maíz tardío y soja de primera en los departamentos del centro norte de la provincia de Córdoba, utilizando las TC agrupadas en factores de rendimiento, para diferentes perfiles tecnológicos luego de la adopción de TC, entendiéndose por tal aquella que al ser incorporada produce un impacto significativo sobre la productividad y/o calidad. Los indicadores físicos económicos son: producción en qq/ha; Margen Bruto; relación Insumo-Producto; Ingreso Marginal, Costo Marginal y Tasa de Retorno Marginal.Fil: Roberi, Ariel Arturo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural; Argentina.Fil: Buffa Menghi, María Noel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Montenegro, Ariel Iván. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Arzubi, Carlos Rubén. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Díaz Yofre, Felipe. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Protección Vegetal. Manejo Integrado de Plagas; Argentina.Fil: Funes Gayoso, Francisco Daniel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Zgrablich, Sergio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Prácticas Agrícolas; Argentina

Sendero de adopción de tecnologías agrupadas en factores de rendimiento en el cultivo de maíz en el centro-norte de la provincia de Córdoba, Argentina

Ponencia presentada en 50° Reunión Anual de la Asociación Argentina de Economía Agraria. Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, Argentina, 30, 31 de octubre, 1 de noviembre de 2019Fil: Roberi, Ariel Arturo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Meyer Paz, Roberto Oscar. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Buffa Menghi, María Noel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Montenegro, Ariel Iván. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Arzubi, Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Zgrablich, Sergio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Prácticas Agrícolas; Argentina.Fil: Díaz Yofre, Felipe. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Protección Vegetal. Manejo Integrado de Plagas; Argentina.Fil: Serena, Jorge Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Karki, Yasmine Marcela. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.En la provincia de Córdoba la producción de cultivos de cosecha gruesa son muy importantes para la producción agrícola nacional, en maíz para la campaña de granos 2018/2019 es histórica, en total, se sembraron 2.225.308 ha, de las cuales se cosecharon 2.220.476 ha con un rendimiento promedio de 8.837 kg./ha, con una producción obtenida de 19.621.271 tn. Ahora una elección adecuada de las tecnologías críticas (TC) será la base para obtener una producciónagrícola sostenida en el tiempo. Se trabajó en los departamentos del centro - norte de Córdoba (Santa María, Colon, Totoral, Rio Primero, Rio Segundo, Rio Seco y Tulumba) donde se realizan los maíces tardíos con tres niveles tecnológicos: bajo (NTB), medio (NTM) y alto (NTA), los rendimientos fueron de 6000, 8000 y 11000 kg/ha/año respectivamente. Se plantea, conocer la secuencia de adopción más conveniente desde el punto de vista agronómico yeconómico que genera la implementación de los factores de rendimientos: Genética; Fertilidad; Agricultura por ambiente y rotación; Labranzas y cultivos de coberturas; Malezas; Plagas y enfermedades y Asistencia técnica.. Fueron analizadas en forma individual, posteriormente en forma secuencial y el NTB es usado como testigo. Si se consideran los márgenes brutos por hectárea que arrojan cada una de los FR introducidos en forma individual todos los valoresobtenidos en el Margen Bruto es mayor al NTB que es el testigo, pero ninguno supera al NTA. Adoptadas secuencialmente los FR generan respuestas físicas y económicas positivas superior al NTB y NTM, que ayudan al sendero de adopción que se debería aplicar en el cultivo de maíz tardío.PublishedVersionFil: Roberi, Ariel Arturo. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Meyer Paz, Roberto Oscar. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Buffa Menghi, María Noel. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Montenegro, Ariel Iván. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Arzubi, Carlos. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Agronegocios; Argentina.Fil: Zgrablich, Sergio. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Producción Vegetal. Prácticas Agrícolas; Argentina.Fil: Díaz Yofre, Felipe. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Protección Vegetal. Manejo Integrado de Plagas; Argentina.Fil: Serena, Jorge Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina.Fil: Karki, Yasmine Marcela. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Agropecuarias. Departamento de Desarrollo Rural. Administración Rural; Argentina

Prolonged pre-firing pancreatic compression with linear staplers in distal pancreatectomy: a valuable technique for post-operative pancreatic fistula prevention

Purpose: Post-operative pancreatic fistula (POPF) remains the main complication after distal pancreatectomy (DP). The aim of this study is to evaluate the potential benefit of different durations of progressive stapler closure on POPF rate and severity after DP. Methods: Patients who underwent DP between 2016 and 2023 were retrospectively enrolled and divided into two groups according to the duration of the stapler closure: those who underwent a progressive compression for < 10 min and those for ≥ 10 min. Results: Among 155 DPs, 83 (53.5%) patients underwent pre-firing compression for < 10 min and 72 (46.5%) for ≥ 10 min. As a whole, 101 (65.1%) developed POPF. A lower incidence rate was found in case of ≥ 10 min compression (34-47.2%) compared to < 10 min compression (67- 80.7%) (p = 0.001). When only clinically relevant (CR) POPFs were considered, a prolonged pre-firing compression led to a lower rate (15-20.8%) than the < 10 min cohort (32-38.6%; p = 0.02). At the multivariate analysis, a compression time of at least 10 min was confirmed as a protective factor for both POPF (OR: 5.47, 95% CI: 2.16-13.87; p = 0.04) and CR-POPF (OR: 2.5, 95% CI: 1.19-5.45; p = 0.04) development. In case of a thick pancreatic gland, a prolonged pancreatic compression for at least 10 min was significantly associated to a lower rate of CR-POPF compared to < 10 min (p = 0.04). Conclusion: A prolonged pre-firing pancreatic compression for at least 10 min seems to significantly reduce the risk of CR-POPF development. Moreover, significant advantages are documented in case of a thick pancreatic gland

Adhesive small bowel obstruction in octogenarians: A 6-year retrospective single-center analysis of clinical management and outcomes

Background: Few evidences are available on adhesive bowel obstruction (ASBO)management and outcomes in geriatric patients. Methods: One-hundred-twenty-eight patients aged 65–79 years were retrospectively compared to 77 patients aged ≥80 years. Aim of this study was to compare ASBO management and in-hospital course between patients aged 65–79 years and those over 80 years. Results: Upfront surgery in octogenarians related with a higher rate of major complications (23.7%vs4.9%; p = 0.009) and longer hospitalization (8.8vs7.3 days; p = 0.01). No difference according to age was noted in terms of clinical outcomes when the non-operative management (NOM) was employed. Patients aged ≥80 years managed conservatively presented shorter hospitalization (7.3vs8.8 days; p = 0.04), lower rate of intensive care unit (ICU) admission (0vs18.4%; p = 0.005) and cumulative major complications (2.6%vs23.7%; p = 0.007) as compared to ≥80 years old patients treated with upfront surgery. In this same group, NOM failure did not lead to worse outcomes in comparison to upfront surgery. Conclusions: NOM in≥80 years patients is associated with better in-hospital course. The acceptable clinical outcomes in case of NOM failure further support NOM as first treatment strategy to employ in this same subset of patients

Presentazione

In the last decade, thanks to the development of new experimental techniques, the studies on human brain carried out relevant advances. Many researcher started off with new analysis fields, placed at the interface between neural and social sciences (economics, sociology, politology, law, psychology, and even aesthetics, ethics and theology). Such interdisciplinary outcomes oscillate between approaches reducing human behaviour to the neural bases and approaches aiming to integrate neural and social sciences.These new developments of the relationship between neural and social sciences provoked animated controversies, also referring to the over-simplified versions of the neuroscience outcomes frequently published by popular scientific information.In this section of the journal, four scholars (Vittorio Gallese, Rosaria Conte, Sergio Manghi, Vincenzo Pavone) from different disciplines are facing the main issues raised by ongoing controversies, thus contributing to clarify the main theoretical, epistemological and moral points

Presentazione

In the last decade, thanks to the development of new experimental techniques, the studies on human brain carried out relevant advances. Many researcher started off with new analysis fields, placed at the interface between neural and social sciences (economics, sociology, politology, law, psychology, and even aesthetics, ethics and theology). Such interdisciplinary outcomes oscillate between approaches reducing human behaviour to the neural bases and approaches aiming to integrate neural and social sciences.These new developments of the relationship between neural and social sciences provoked animated controversies, also referring to the over-simplified versions of the neuroscience outcomes frequently published by popular scientific information.In this section of the journal, four scholars (Vittorio Gallese, Rosaria Conte, Sergio Manghi, Vincenzo Pavone) from different disciplines are facing the main issues raised by ongoing controversies, thus contributing to clarify the main theoretical, epistemological and moral points