Efficient Use of Human-robot Collaboration in Packaging through Systematic Task Assignment

The ageing workforce in Germany is a major challenge for many companies in the assembly and packaging of high-quality products. Particularly when individual processes require an increased amount of force or precision, the employees can be overstressed over a long period, depending on their physical constitution. One way of supporting employees in these processes is human-robot collaboration, because stressful process steps can be automated in a targeted manner. With conventional automation, this is currently not economically possible for many processes, as human capabilities are required. In order to achieve a balanced cooperation based on partnership, as well as to use additional potentials and to consider restrictions such as process times, it is necessary to ensure a good division of tasks between human and machine. The methodical procedure of allocation presented in this paper is based on the recreation of the process from basic process modules conducted by the process planner. Subsequently, these processes are divided according to the respective capabilities and the underlying process requirements. The company-specific target parameters, such as an improvement in ergonomics, are taken into account. The assignment procedure is described in a practical use case in the packaging of high-quality electronic consumer goods. Furthermore, the use case demonstrates the applicability of the approach. For these purposes, the parameters and requirements of the initial and result state of the workplace are described. The procedure and the decisions of the approach are shown with regard to the achievable goals

A Method to Distinguish Potential Workplaces for Human-Robot Collaboration

The high dynamics of globalized markets and their increase in competition, as well as the demographic changes in western countries causing an increasing shortage of skilled personnel are resulting in major challenges for production companies today. These challenges relate in particular to the processes of assembly forming the last process step in the value chain due to its high share of manual labor. Collaborative assembly, which is characterized by immediate interaction of humans and robots, utilizes the strengths of both partners and is seen as an opportunity to achieve a higher level of flexibility in assembly just as well to support and relieve people of for instance non-ergonomic tasks through automation at work. Although almost every robot manufacturer already has collaborative systems in its product portfolio, these are not yet widely used in industrial production. This might have a variety of reasons, such as the fear of a risky investment or the lack of expertise within the company related to collaborative systems. This article shows a conceptual method that helps companies implementing human-robot-collaboration in their production more quickly and with less implied risk, thus addressing the forthcoming challenges. As a first step, companies must be qualified to make a suitable selection for a possible collaboration scenario. To achieve this, they need a tool to analyze and to evaluate their production processes according to their suitability for human-robot-collaboration. An important feature for an easy and effective use is that the process is formalized so that employees of companies can quickly and easily analyze different processes. The necessary criteria and procedures are developed accordingly and are integrated into the selection method. The main goal is to give the company a recommendation which of their processes are most suitable for human-robot-collaboration, so that they can be used effectively in their production

Epigenomic Consequences of Immortalized Plant Cell Suspension Culture

Plant cells grown in culture exhibit genetic and epigenetic instability. Using a combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation and DNA methylation profiling on tiling microarrays, we have mapped the location and abundance of histone and DNA modifications in a continuously proliferating, dedifferentiated cell suspension culture of Arabidopsis. We have found that euchromatin becomes hypermethylated in culture and that a small percentage of the hypermethylated genes become associated with heterochromatic marks. In contrast, the heterochromatin undergoes dramatic and very precise DNA hypomethylation with transcriptional activation of specific transposable elements (TEs) in culture. High throughput sequencing of small interfering RNA (siRNA) revealed that TEs activated in culture have increased levels of 21-nucleotide (nt) siRNA, sometimes at the expense of the 24-nt siRNA class. In contrast, TEs that remain silent, which match the predominant 24-nt siRNA class, do not change significantly in their siRNA profiles. These results implicate RNA interference and chromatin modification in epigenetic restructuring of the genome following the activation of TEs in immortalized cell culture

Effect of Code Status Handout on Resident Physician Comfort During the Admission Process

Background: Discussing code status can be a difficult part of the admission process, especially for residents. There have been various research studies looking at interventions to improve end-of-life discussions. However, these studies have focused on well-acquainted physicians and patients. With increasing use of hospitalists for inpatient care, there is increased need for improving code status discussions at admission. Purpose: To determine if an easy-to-use handout would improve resident comfort with the code status discussion. Methods: Following a literature search on how to discuss advance directives and end-of-life care, a code status handout was developed. The handout, written at fifth-grade reading level, was edited by attending physicians who oversaw the Adult Medicine Teaching Service (AMTS) at Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, and used for patient admissions to AMTS by PGY1–3 residents from July 2015 to December 2015. A pre- and postintervention survey was emailed to residents before and after the start of their inpatient rotation, respectively. A predetermined script –– read to residents on the first day of their rotation –– discussed the handout, goals of the study and surveys. Paired t-tests were used to compare pre- and postintervention survey responses. Results: Across respondents (N = 39), the majority were PGY1 (63.2%) with prior personal experience explaining code status to patients (73.7%). Pre- and postintervention surveys did not identify a difference in physician comfort level when explaining code status, even when compared to year in residency. On the postintervention survey, residents identified that the code status handout better informed patients (73.0%), was easy to use (75.0%) and that they would continue to use the handout to explain code status (78.4%). Regarding “What would you change?” residents identified that the handout should be shorter (34.2%). Conclusion: Use of the handout did not show significant improvements to resident comfort in this small pilot. While residents identified that they would use the handout again, several remarked that the handout was too long for them or patients to read. Given that the handout was one page and in patient-friendly language, it is concerning that residents have such limited time for code status discussions. Future quality improvement studies should be conducted to standardize the code status discussion. Doing so will ensure that every patient is being properly educated on this important topic

Effect of code status handout on resident physician comfort during the admission process

Conclusion: Use of the handout did not show significant improvements to resident comfort in this small pilot. While residents identified that they would use the handout again, several remarked the handout was too long for them or patients to read. Given that the handout was one page and in patient friendly language, it is concerning that residents have such limited time for code status discussions. Future quality improvement studies should be conducted to standardize the code status discussion. Doing so will ensure that every patient is being properly educated on this important topic

Organisationsformen der Produktion

Die Motivation zur Erstellung dieses Papers entstand aus zahlreichen Diskussionen mit Vertretern produzierender Unternehmen und der unzureichenden Antwort der Wissenschaft auf die Fragestellung, welche Organisationsform die geeignetste für einen spezifischen Anwendungsfall darstellt. Dabei beginnt die Problematik schon bei der reinen Beschreibung der unterschiedlichen Organisationsformen der Produktion. Die in der Literatur bestehenden Systematiken differenzieren zumeist zwischen Fertigung und Montage – und dass unter der Verwendung ähnlicher Begrifflichkeiten bei unterschiedlicher Bedeutung. Dass auf diesem Wege zum einen kein einheitliches Verständnis entstehen und zum anderen keine gezielte Auswahl der für den betrachteten Anwendungsfall geeignetsten Organisationsform erfolgen kann, liegt auf der Hand. Das vorliegende Paper bietet sowohl der Wissenschaft als auch dem praktischen Anwender durch die entwickelte Beschreibungssystematik einen Überblick über mögliche Organisationsformen in der Produktion und damit allgemein eine Beschreibung sowohl der Fertigung als auch Montage. Mit der Variantenmix-Produktion wird zudem eine Organisationsform vorgestellt, die die neuartigen Entwicklungen in der Praxis systematisch beschreibbar macht und somit bei der Ausgestaltung spezifischer Organisationsformen unterstützt. Die hier dargestellte Beschreibungssystematik für die Organisationsformen der Produktion bildet zudem die Grundlagen für weitere Arbeiten am Institut für Fabrikanlagen und Logistik (IFA), die sich auf die Erforschung der Planung und Gestaltung neuartiger Organisationsformen sowie die Auswahl der für einen spezifischen Anwendungsfall geeignetsten Organisationsform aufgrund entsprechender Vor- und Nachteile fokussieren

Mitigating Feelings of Loneliness and Depression by Means of Web-Based or Print-Based Physical Activity Interventions: Pooled Analysis of 2 Community-Based Intervention Trials

BACKGROUND: Physical activity (PA) is associated with benefits, such as fewer depressive symptoms and loneliness. Web- and print-based PA interventions can help older individuals accordingly. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to test the following research questions: Do PA interventions delivered in a web- or print-based mode improve self-reported PA stage of change, social-cognitive determinants of PA, loneliness, and symptoms of depression? Is subjective age a mediator and stage of change a moderator of this effect? METHODS: Overall, 831 adults aged ≥60 years were recruited and either allocated to a print-based or web-based intervention group or assigned to a wait-list control group (WLCG) in 2 community-based PA intervention trials over 10 weeks. Missing value imputation using an expectation-maximization algorithm was applied. Frequency analyses, multivariate analyses of variance, and moderated mediation analyses were conducted. RESULTS: The web-based intervention outperformed (47/59, 80% of initially inactive individuals being adopters, and 396/411, 96.4% of initially active individuals being maintainers of the recommended PA behavior) the print-based intervention (20/25, 80% of adopters, and 63/69, 91% of maintainers) and the WLCG (5/7, 71% of adopters; 141/150, 94% of maintainers). The pattern regarding adopters was statistically significant (web vs print Z=–1.94; P=.02; WLCG vs web Z=3.8367; P=.01). The pattern was replicated with stages (χ24=79.1; P<.001; contingency coefficient 0.314; P<.001); in the WLCG, 40.1% (63/157) of the study participants moved to or remained in action stage. This number was higher in the groups receiving web-based (357/470, 76%) or print-based interventions (64/94, 68.1%). A significant difference was observed favoring the 2 intervention groups over and above the WLCG (F19, 701=4.778; P<.001; η2=0.098) and a significant interaction of time and group (F19, 701=2.778; P<.001; η2=0.070) for predictors of behavior. The effects of the interventions on subjective age, loneliness, and depression revealed that both between-group effects (F3, 717=8.668; P<.001; η2=0.018) and the interaction between group and time were significant (F3, 717=6.101; P<.001; η2=0.025). In a moderated mediation model, both interventions had a significant direct effect on depression in comparison with the WLCG (web-based: c′ path −0.86, 95% CI −1.58 to −0.13, SE 0.38; print-based: c′ path −1.96, 95% CI −2.99 to −0.92, SE 0.53). Furthermore, subjective age was positively related to depression (b path 0.14, 95% CI 0.05-0.23; SE 0.05). An indirect effect of the intervention on depression via subjective age was only present for participants who were in actor stage and received the web-based intervention (ab path −0.14, 95% CI −0.34 to −0.01; SE 0.09). CONCLUSIONS: Web-based interventions appear to be as effective as print-based interventions. Both modes might help older individuals remain or become active and experience fewer depression symptoms, especially if they feel younger