Intelligent Robotic Behaviors for Landmine Detection and Marking

This article discusses experimental results achieved with a robotic countermine system that utilizes autonomous behaviors and a mixed-initiative control scheme to address the challenges of detecting and marking buried landmines. By correlating aerial imagery and ground-based robot mapping, the interface provides context for the operator to task the robot. Once tasked, the robot can perform the search and detection task without the use of accurate global positioning system information or continuous communication with the operator. Results show that the system was able to find and mark landmines with a very low level of human involvement. In addition, the data indicates that the robotic system may be able to decrease the time to find mines and increase the detection, accuracy and reliability

The Gosport War Memorial Hospital Panel report and its implications for nursing

Where do we even begin? How do mere words encapsulate the full horror of the Gosport War Memorial Hospital (GWMH) report (Gosport Independent Panel, 2018) and its profound implications for nursing? Many of us thought that in our careers we would never again read anything as damning of health care and health services as the Francis Report; Darbyshire & McKenna, 2013; Hayter, 2013; Nolan, 2013). We were wrong. Politicians, hospitals, health services, educators and regulators at that time were falling over each other to reassure us that ‘lessons had been learned’, ‘things had changed’, ‘new systems were in place’ and that such disasters and failures ‘must never happen again’

Machine Vision for Object Detection and Profiling in an Unstructured Environment

The Handling and Sorting System for 55-Gallon Drums (HANDSS-55) is a DOE project to develop an automated method for retrieving items that are not acceptable at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) from 55-gallon drums of low-level waste. The HANDSS-55 is a modular system that opens drums, sorts the waste, and then repackages the remaining waste in WIPP compliant barrels. The Sorting Station module relies on a non-contact measurement system to quickly provide a 3D profile of the sorting area. It then analyses the 3D profile and a color image to determine the position and orientation of an operator selected waste item. The item is then removed from the sorting area by a robotic arm. The use of both image and profile information for object determination provides a fast, effective method of finding and retrieving selected objects in the unstructured environment of the sorting module

Using assignment data to analyse a blended information literacy intervention: a quantitative approach

This research sought to determine whether a blended information literacy learning and teaching intervention could statistically significantly enhance undergraduates’ information discernment compared to standard face-to-face delivery. A mixture of face-to-face and online activities, including online social media learning, was used. Three interventions were designed to develop the information literacies of first-year undergraduates studying Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University and focused on one aspect of information literacy: the ability to evaluate source material effectively. An analysis was devised where written evaluations of found information for an assessment were converted into numerical scores and then measured statistically. This helped to evaluate the efficacy of the interventions and provided data for further analysis. An insight into how the information literacy pedagogical intervention and the cognitive processes involved in enabling participants to interact critically with information is provided. The intervention which incorporated social media learning proved to be the most successful learning and teaching approach. The data indicated that undergraduate students’ information literacy can be developed. However, additional long-term data is required to establish whether this intervention would have a lasting impact

Autonomous Robot System for Sensor Characterization

This paper discusses an innovative application of new Markov localization techniques that combat the problem of odometry drift, allowing a novel control architecture developed at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) to be utilized within a sensor characterization facility developed at the Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) in Nevada. The new robotic capability provided by the INEEL will allow RSL to test and evaluate a wide variety of sensors including radiation detection systems, machine vision systems, and sensors that can detect and track heat sources (e.g. human bodies, machines, chemical plumes). By accurately moving a target at varying speeds along designated paths, the robotic solution allows the detection abilities of a wide variety of sensors to be recorded and analyzed

Nudging down theft from insecure vehicles. A pilot study

This report presents the preliminary findings of a pilot study to reduce thefts from cars committed against insecure vehicles, using the behavioural insights or ‘nudge approach’. The recipients of the ‘nudges’ were potential victims of theft from insecure vehicles living in high rate areas for this crime, where a bespoke leaflet campaign was developed to nudge vehicle owners into thinking more carefully when leaving their vehicles unattended, particularly when left on their driveways overnight. Although somewhat tentative at this stage, the preliminary findings indicate that the percentage of thefts committed against insecure vehicles in the two treatment areas was reduced significantly when compared with the two control group areas where no nudge interventions were introduced. This demonstrates that if appropriate nudges (grounded in psychological theory) are coupled with and delivered by appropriate messengers, the prosocial behavioural change can be encouraged which can lead to a reduction in criminal behaviour and opportunities for crim

Adverse outcomes and an immunosuppressed endotype in septic patients with reduced IFN-γ ELISpot

BACKGROUNDSepsis remains a major clinical challenge for which successful treatment requires greater precision in identifying patients at increased risk of adverse outcomes requiring different therapeutic approaches. Predicting clinical outcomes and immunological endotyping of septic patients generally relies on using blood protein or mRNA biomarkers, or static cell phenotyping. Here, we sought to determine whether functional immune responsiveness would yield improved precision.METHODSAn ex vivo whole-blood enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay for cellular production of interferon γ (IFN-γ) was evaluated in 107 septic and 68 nonseptic patients from 5 academic health centers using blood samples collected on days 1, 4, and 7 following ICU admission.RESULTSCompared with 46 healthy participants, unstimulated and stimulated whole-blood IFN-γ expression was either increased or unchanged, respectively, in septic and nonseptic ICU patients. However, in septic patients who did not survive 180 days, stimulated whole-blood IFN-γ expression was significantly reduced on ICU days 1, 4, and 7 (all P \u3c 0.05), due to both significant reductions in total number of IFN-γ-producing cells and amount of IFN-γ produced per cell (all P \u3c 0.05). Importantly, IFN-γ total expression on days 1 and 4 after admission could discriminate 180-day mortality better than absolute lymphocyte count (ALC), IL-6, and procalcitonin. Septic patients with low IFN-γ expression were older and had lower ALCs and higher soluble PD-L1 and IL-10 concentrations, consistent with an immunosuppressed endotype.CONCLUSIONSA whole-blood IFN-γ ELISpot assay can both identify septic patients at increased risk of late mortality and identify immunosuppressed septic patients.TRIAL REGISTRYN/A.FUNDINGThis prospective, observational, multicenter clinical study was directly supported by National Institute of General Medical Sciences grant R01 GM-139046, including a supplement (R01 GM-139046-03S1) from 2022 to 2024

EVALUATING ROBOT TECHNOLOGIES AS TOOLS TO EXPLORE RADIOLOGICAL AND OTHER HAZARDOUS ENVIRONMENTS

There is a general consensus that robots could be beneficial in performing tasks within hazardous radiological environments. Most control of robots in hazardous environments involves master-slave or teleoperation relationships between the human and the robot. While teleoperation-based solutions keep humans out of harms way, they also change the training requirements to accomplish a task. In this paper we present a research methodology that allowed scientists at Idaho National Laboratory to identify, develop, and prove a semi-autonomous robot solution for search and characterization tasks within a hazardous environment. Two experiments are summarized that validated the use of semi-autonomy and show that robot autonomy can help mitigate some of the performance differences between operators who have different levels of robot experience, and can improve performance over teleoperated systems

Measuring the timeliness of childhood vaccinations: Using cohort data and routine health records to evaluate quality of immunisation services

Background: To achieve full benefits of vaccination programmes, high uptake and timely receipt of vaccinations are required. Objectives: To examine uptake and timeliness of infant and pre-school booster vaccines using cohort study data linked to health records. Methods: We included 1782 children, born between 2000 and 2001, participating in the Millennium Cohort Study and resident in Wales, whose parents gave consent for linkage to National Community Child Health Database records at the age seven year contact. We examined age at receipt, timeliness of vaccination (early, on-time, delayed, or never), and intervals between vaccine doses, based on the recommended schedule for children at that time, of the following vaccines: primary (diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis (DTP), polio, Meningococcal C (Men C), Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib)); first dose of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); and pre-school childhood vaccinations (DTP, polio, MMR). We compared parental report with child health recorded MMR vaccination status at age three years. Results: While 94% of children received the first dose of primary vaccines early or on time, this was lower for subsequent doses (82%, 65% and 88% for second and third doses and pre-school booster respectively). Median intervals between doses exceeded the recommended schedule for all but the first dose with marked variation between children. There was high concordance (97%) between parental reported and child health recorded MMR status. Conclusions: Routine immunisation records provide useful information on timely receipt of vaccines and can be used to assess the quality of childhood vaccination programmes. Parental report of MMR vaccine status is reliable

Nanolaminate Deformable Mirrors

LLNL is developing nanolaminate-based deformable mirrors for terrestrial and space-based optical systems. We are combining two complementary technologies: high-spatial-density electrostatic actuators and thin, flexible, lightweight nanolaminate foils. Electrostatic actuation of MEMS-like structures provides densely-spaced, repeatable deflections on the order of 10 {micro}m. Nanolaminate foils provide a mirror surface that is simultaneously flexible enough to deform under electrostatic forces and tough enough to survive handling and bonding. We are working on two similar deformable mirrors that will demonstrate the feasibility of nanolaminate-based deformable mirrors over a wide range of size scales. The high-density device has a pitch of 1.255 mm between 1,024 square pixels. The large-scale device has a pitch of 9 mm between 76 hexagonal pixels [1], [2]