Obesity, diabetes and zinc: A workshop promoting knowledge and collaboration between the UK and Israel, November 28–30, 2016 – Israel

Sponsored by the Friends of Israel Educational Foundation (FIEF) and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and supported by the EU COST action Zinc-Net (COST TD1304), a three-day collaborative UK-Israel workshop was organized by Drs Assaf Rudich, Imre Lengyel and Arie Moran. Participants from the UK and Israel met at the Desert Iris Hotel, Yeruham, Israel between the 28-30th of November 2016 for in-depth discussions, rather than a lecture series, to set the stage for future collaborative grants and projects on diabetes and zinc. Two days of formal scientific sessions with dynamic and wide-ranging discussions was followed by a day of touring and informal networking in the Negev area. This format was previously recognized by our sponsors as both effective and enjoyable and all participants agreed at the end of the meeting that the 3-days provided an excellent basis for future scientific collaboration. The discussions were centered on diabetes and obesity, already at pandemic levels, and zinc homeostasis which is related to the clinical issues and themes of the meeting. The free-flowing discussions were based on short presentations setting the scene for the six main topics: ‘Diabetes and zinc transporters’, ‘Nutrition related factors’, ‘Biomarkers’, ‘Clinical epidemiology’, ‘the Microbiome and diabetes’, and ‘Related diseases’. The abstract style summary of the sessions is followed by the major discussion points raised by the Authors and other participants (UK: Patrik Rorsman, Oxford University; Alan Stewart, University of St Andrews and Israel: Assaf Rudich, Idit Liberty, Rahel Gol, Guy Las and Amos Katz, Ben-Gurion University; Sarah Zangen, Haddassa University). We hope that readers will find this discourse stimulating and some of the ideas might make their way into their research efforts

Segregation, mobility and encounters in Jerusalem: The role of public transport infrastructure in connecting the ‘divided city’

This paper assesses ways in which urban segregation is shaped and transformed by Jerusalem’s public transport network, enhancing mobility and potential group encounters. We suggest that segregation should be understood as an issue of mobility and co-presence in public space, rather than the static residential-based segregation that continues to be a central focus of debate in urban studies. We explore public transport infrastructures, considering how their implementation reflects the variety of ways that transport can have impact: segmenting populations, linking populations and/or creating spaces for interaction or conflict between the city’s Jewish Israeli and Arab Palestinian populations. Space syntax network analysis suggests that in the case of Jerusalem, access to public transport is multi-dimensional: as well as providing access to resources, it shapes opportunities for spatial mobility that may either overcome or reinforce area-based housing segregation. We discuss these opportunities in the light of Jerusalem’s on-going ethno-national division in an increasingly fractured urban reality

Human-Centric Design of Automated Production Lines Using Virtual Reality Tools and Human Data Analysis

The 4.0 revolution is leading to increasingly automated, flexible, and intelligent manufacturing systems that require greater complexity to manage during maintenance and process control. In this context the optimization of the human-machine interaction plays a crucial important role in the design of modern industrial systems. Virtual Reality (VR) offers realistic simulation environments where users can be involved to replicate specific human tasks, detecting and solving problems before they occur. The paper proposes a human-centric digital design methodology that integrates VR technologies with human data analysis tools to support the design or redesign of complex industrial systems. Different wearable devices have been used to collect data about physical and mental user conditions to provide an early assessment of the operators’ workload, while comparing different design solutions into the virtual space. An industrial use case related to the redesign of packaging automated machines was used to validate the proposed method and tools: a preliminary correlation between physiological parameters and machines interactions was found

An AR Tool to Support Warehouse Operations in the Context of Industry 4.0

Augmented Reality (AR) is one of the leading technologies of the Industry 4.0 revolution, offering innovative interfaces to promote the diffusion of digital contents into industrial processes, thanks to flexible and robust solutions and cost-effective devices. In this context, this paper explores the adoption of AR in industrial logistics where several open issues still discourage its effective use in everyday scenarios. After a review of objectives, approaches and technics of AR integration in logistics operations, the paper presents a framework to identify goods in a warehouse, retrieve data relative to the package, display info to the user to drive operations. The approach aims at easing and speeding up the activity of the warehouseman to identify goods, check the relative information and to put each good on the correct shelf. A prototypal application was developed within the Unity platform and integrated with the company ERP system to manage data on the products and retrieve images of the identification labels. A real use case involving a primary company producing agricultural tractors is proposed to test usability of the prototype. Results showed that the developed application allows relevant benefits in terms of process effectiveness, error prevention, aiming at reducing the operator mental workload

UX assessment strategy to identify potential stressful conditions for workers

The European Commission defined the new concept of Industry 5.0 meaning a more human-centric, resilient, and sustainable approach for the design of industrial systems and operations. A deep understanding of the work environment and organization is important to start analysing the working conditions and the resulting User eXperience (UX) of the operators. Also, the knowledge about users’ needs and ergonomics is fundamental to optimize the workers’ wellbeing, working conditions, and industrial results. In this context, the paper presents a strategy to effectively assess the UX of workers to promote human-centric vision of manufacturing sites, enhancing the overall sustainability of the modern factories. A set of non-invasive wearable devices is used to monitor human activities and collect physiological parameters, as well as questionnaires to gather subjective self-assessment. This set-up was applied to virtual reality (VR) simulation, replicating heavy duty work sequence tasks that took place in an oil and gas pipes manufacturing site. This approach allowed the identification of possible stressful conditions for the operator, from physical and mental perspectives, which may compromise the performance. This research was funded by the European Community's HORIZON 2020 programme under grant agreement No. 958303 (PENELOPE)