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This work presents a unique approach to the design, fabrication, and characterization of paper-based origami robotic systems consisting of stackable pneumatic actuators. These paper-based actuators (PBAs) use materials with high elastic modulus-to-mass ratios, accordion-like structures, and direct coupling with pneumatic pressure for extension and bending. The study contributes to the scientific and engineering understanding of foldable components under applied pneumatic pressure by constructing stretchable and flexible structures with intrinsically nonstretchable materials. Experiments showed that a PBA possesses a power-to-mass ratio greater than 80 W/kg, which is more than four times that of human muscle. This work also illustrates the stackability and functionality of PBAs by two prototypes: a parallel manipulator and a legged locomotor. The manipulator consisting of an array of PBAs can bend in a specific direction with the corresponding actuator inflated. In addition, the stacked actuators in the manipulator can rotate in opposite directions to compensate for relative rotation at the ends of each actuator to work in parallel and manipulate the platform. The locomotor rotates the PBAs to apply and release contact between the feet and the ground. Furthermore, a numerical model developed in this work predicts the mechanical performance of these inflatable actuators as a function of dimensional specifications and folding patterns. Overall, we use stacked origami actuators to implement functionalities of manipulation, gripping, and locomotion as conventional robotic systems. Future origami robots made of paper-like materials may be suitable for single use in contaminated or unstructured environments or low-cost educational materials.

Background The screening of biological hazards, chemical contaminants and allergens in food products is a major concern of food industry since they can cause serious illnesses and even lead to death. Therefore, there is a significant interest in developing low-cost, robust, and rapid detection methods for food safety and quality analysis. Conventional methods provide accurate analytical characteristics, but require well-equipped laboratories, trained personnel, costly reagents, and complicated sample preparation procedures prior to the detection in order to obtain reliable results. Hence, they are not always ideal for on-site food surveillance. Scope and approach This paper discusses the fundamentals of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) and reviews the recent progress in their usage for screening biological hazards, harmful chemical residues, and allergens in food products to systematically evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of this technology. It then covers future trends and useful strategies that could be employed in μPADs design and fabrication procedures to address the critical challenges in equipment-free food analysis. Key findings and conclusions μPADs offer promising avenues to revolutionize food safety and quality analysis with merits of equipment-free sample preparation and detection at low-cost. Despite the advancement in the microfluidic technology, the manufacturing of user-friendly sample-to-answer μPADs still requires intensive research studies to be employed for robust and sensitive food safety and quality analysis.

The accuracy of a predictive system is critical for predictive maintenance and to support the right decisions at the right times. Statistical models, such as ARIMA and SARIMA, are unable to describe the stochastic nature of the data. Neural networks, such as long short-term memory (LSTM) and the gated recurrent unit (GRU), are good predictors for univariate and multivariate data. The present paper describes a case study where the performances of long short-term memory and gated recurrent units are compared, based on different hyperparameters. In general, gated recurrent units exhibit better performance, based on a case study on pulp paper presses. The final result demonstrates that, to maximize the equipment availability, gated recurrent units, as demonstrated in the paper, are the best options.

In simple dyadic games such as rock, paper, scissors (RPS), people exhibit peculiar sequential dependencies across repeated interactions with a stable opponent. These regularities seem to arise from a mutually adversarial process of trying to outwit their opponent. What underlies this process, and what are its limits? Here, we offer a novel framework for formally describing and quantifying human adversarial reasoning in the rock, paper, scissors game. We first show that this framework enables a precise characterization of the complexity of patterned behaviors that people exhibit themselves, and appear to exploit in others. This combination allows for a quantitative understanding of human opponent modeling abilities. We apply these tools to an experiment in which people played 300 rounds of RPS in stable dyads. We find that although people exhibit very complex move dependencies, they cannot exploit these dependencies in their opponents, indicating a fundamental limitation in people’s capacity for adversarial reasoning. Taken together, the results presented here show how the rock, paper, scissors game allows for precise formalization of human adaptive reasoning abilities.

This research studied the strategies that players use in sequential adversarial games. We took the Rock-Paper-Scissors (RPS) game as an example and ran players in two experiments. The first experiment involved two humans, who played the RPS together for 100 times. Importantly, our payoff design in the RPS allowed us to differentiate between participants who used a random strategy from those who used a Nash strategy. We found that participants did not play in agreement with the Nash strategy, but rather, their behavior was closer to random. Moreover, the analyses of the participants’ sequential actions indicated heterogeneous cycle-based behaviors: some participants’ actions were independent of their past outcomes, some followed a well-known win-stay/lose-change strategy, and others exhibited the win-change/lose-stay behavior. To understand the sequential patterns of outcome-dependent actions, we designed probabilistic computer algorithms involving specific change actions (i.e., to downgrade or upgrade according to the immediate past outcome): the Win-Downgrade/Lose-Stay (WDLS) or Win-Stay/Lose-Upgrade (WSLU) strategies. Experiment 2 used these strategies against a human player. Our findings show that participants followed a win-stay strategy against the WDLS algorithm and a lose-change strategy against the WSLU algorithm, while they had difficulty in using an upgrade/downgrade direction, suggesting humans’ limited ability to detect and counter the actions of the algorithm. Taken together, our two experiments showed a large diversity of sequential strategies, where the win-stay/lose-change strategy did not describe the majority of human players’ dynamic behaviors in this adversarial situation.

To explore whether the brain contains pattern differences in the rock–paper–scissors (RPS) imagery task, this paper attempts to classify this task using fNIRS and deep learning. In this study, we designed an RPS task with a total duration of 25 min and 40 s, and recruited 22 volunteers for the experiment. We used the fNIRS acquisition device (FOIRE-3000) to record the cerebral neural activities of these participants in the RPS task. The time series classification (TSC) algorithm was introduced into the time-domain fNIRS signal classification. Experiments show that CNN-based TSC methods can achieve 97% accuracy in RPS classification. CNN-based TSC method is suitable for the classification of fNIRS signals in RPS motor imagery tasks, and may find new application directions for the development of brain–computer interfaces (BCI).

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have been investigated as a promising device to harvest mechanical energy into electricity. At present, paper-based triboelectric nanogenerators (P-TENGs) have been widely researched because paper features with lightweight, low cost, abundance, renewability and biodegradability. In this paper, the operating principles and operation modes of TENGs, the development progress and performance enhancement routes of P-TENGs are comprehensively reviewed. Additionally, the overview, challenges and opportunities of P-TENGs applications are also presented.

One way of exposing predatory journals is to submit a spoof article to see if it gets accepted. We investigate one journal, looking at how it has performed since a spoof paper it accepted came to light. We find that it has published almost 20% more papers following the acceptance of the spoof paper. The journal has a new web site, which appears to show that it did not publish its first paper until 2018. However, there is an old web site that lists 321 papers dating back to 2012. The editors said that this is due to a new workflow system, which meant that previously published papers could not be listed on the new web site. Moreover, the number of papers could be not accommodated, as a high configuration server would be required to provide a responsive web site. We found some plagiarism, which looks quite serious. We conclude that the spoof paper had little effect on the journal, which continues to operate, seven years after the spoof paper was accepted.

Activating flux is made up of inorganic material mixed with a volatile medium. The objective of this study is to identify and review the literature in activating flux, and different type of welding techniques. For that purpose, a structured review method is adopted and the Scopus database is used as a primary source for the selection of papers. The papers were identified using the string term of “Activating flux” OR “Activated flux” in the title of papers. And a total of 238 papers were identified for the study. Besides the above few other papers were also reviewed and the materials used, the type of flux used, and the findings of different combinations were highlighted in the form of tables. The findings of the study provide a comprehensive understanding of the different type of welding techniques focusing on TIG welding, and the different combination of flux used and their impact was summarized.

Space Resource Utilization could reduce the mass, cost, and risks of future space activities. The many nonlinear and compounding effects mean that seemingly insignificant concept of operations choices can invalidate the conclusions of sophisticated analyses. Here we successively relax self-imposed constraints in a recent publication to demonstrate that the proximity of a market and the benefits of aerobraking cannot be omitted.

Summary Objective: To identify and highlight research papers representing noteworthy developments in signals, sensors, and imaging informatics in 2020. Method: A broad literature search was conducted on PubMed and Scopus databases. We combined Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) terms and keywords to construct particular queries for sensors, signals, and image informatics. We only considered papers that have been published in journals providing at least three articles in the query response. Section editors then independently reviewed the titles and abstracts of preselected papers assessed on a three-point Likert scale. Papers were rated from 1 (do not include) to 3 (should be included) for each topical area (sensors, signals, and imaging informatics) and those with an average score of 2 or above were subsequently read and assessed again by two of the three co-editors. Finally, the top 14 papers with the highest combined scores were considered based on consensus. Results: The search for papers was executed in January 2021. After removing duplicates and conference proceedings, the query returned a set of 101, 193, and 529 papers for sensors, signals, and imaging informatics, respectively. We filtered out journals that had less than three papers in the query results, reducing the number of papers to 41, 117, and 333, respectively. From these, the co-editors identified 22 candidate papers with more than 2 Likert points on average, from which 14 candidate best papers were nominated after intensive discussion. At least five external reviewers then rated the remaining papers. The four finalist papers were found using the composite rating of all external reviewers. These best papers were approved by consensus of the International Medical Informatics Association (IMIA) Yearbook editorial board. Conclusions. Sensors, signals, and imaging informatics is a dynamic field of intense research. The four best papers represent advanced approaches for combining, processing, modeling, and analyzing heterogeneous sensor and imaging data. The selected papers demonstrate the combination and fusion of multiple sensors and sensor networks using electrocardiogram (ECG), electroencephalogram (EEG), or photoplethysmogram (PPG) with advanced data processing, deep and machine learning techniques, and present image processing modalities beyond state-of-the-art that significantly support and further improve medical decision making.

The printing effect of paper packaging has an impact on the circulation effect of products. Only when the printing effect is good can it attract consumers’ purchasing desire. In this study, based on color management technology, the printing of the designed Bazhong specialty paper packaging was studied. Firstly, the content and process of color management were analyzed, and equipment correction and characterization were introduced. Then, the printing process of Bazhong specialty paper packaging was explored, and the printing equipment and the establishment of the profile file were analyzed. The application of color management achieves a high-quality printing effect, which provides a theoretical reference for its further application in the printing industry.

Scientific research cooperation and co-authored papers are becoming increasingly popular in the era of big science. However, allocating appropriate credit to each co-author of papers remains a challenge. We consider author contribution declarations according to the contributor roles taxonomy (CRediT) scheme (assigning each co-author to 14 contributor roles) and propose a new method of author contribution to allocate co-authors’ credits reasonably by converting the 14 contributor roles in an article into a binary author-role matrix. Based on the data of PLOS ONE, we further explore the new method’s advantages by comparing with other representative methods: It normalizes the total credits of different articles to 1, avoiding the inflationary bias caused by the increasing number of co-authors; awards different credits per co-author based on the participation rate of contributor roles to avoid the equalization bias; reduces the impact of the increasing number of co-authors on the credit of the first co-author.

Predicting the impact of academic papers can help scholars quickly identify the high-quality papers in the field. How to develop efficient predictive model for evaluating potential papers has attracted increasing attention in academia. Many studies have shown that early citations contribute to improving the performance of predicting the long-term impact of a paper. Besides early citations, some bibliometric features and altmetric features have also been explored for predicting the impact of academic papers. Furthermore, paper metadata text such as title, abstract and keyword contains valuable information which has effect on its citation count. However, present studies ignore the semantic information contained in the metadata text. In this paper, we propose a novel citation prediction model based on paper metadata text to predict the long-term citation count, and the core of our model is to obtain the semantic information from the metadata text. We use deep learning techniques to encode the metadata text, and then further extract high-level semantic features for learning the citation prediction task. We also integrate early citations for improving the prediction performance of the model. We show that our proposed model outperforms the state-of-the-art models in predicting the long-term citation count of the papers, and metadata semantic features are effective for improving the accuracy of the citation prediction models.

We present a rotational terahertz imaging system for inline nondestructive testing (NDT) of press sleeves for the paper industry during fabrication. Press sleeves often consist of polyurethane (PU) which is deposited by rotational molding on metal barrels and its outer surface mechanically processed in several milling steps afterwards. Due to a stabilizing polyester fiber mesh inlay, small defects can form on the sleeve’s backside already during the initial molding, however, they cannot be visually inspected until the whole production processes is completed. We have developed a fast-scanning frequenc-modulated continuous wave (FMCW) terahertz imaging system, which can be integrated into the manufacturing process to yield high resolution images of the press sleeves and therefore can help to visualize hidden structural defects at an early stage of fabrication. This can save valuable time and resources during the production process. Our terahertz system can record images at 0.3 and 0.5 THz and we achieve data acquisition rates of at least 20 kHz, exploiting the fast rotational speed of the barrels during production to yield sub-millimeter image resolution. The potential of automated defect recognition by a simple machine learning approach for anomaly detection is also demonstrated and discussed.

Altres ajuts: Agència per a la Competitivitat de l'Empresa de la Generalitat de Catalunya by FEDER funds, Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, and ERDF funds In this paper, an organic, fully recyclable and eco-friendly 20-bit inkjet-printed chipless RFID tag is presented. The tag operates in the near field and is implemented by means of chains of resonant elements. The characterization and manufacturing process of the tag, printed with a few layers of a commercial organic ink on conventional paper substrate (DIN A4), are presented, and tag functionality is demonstrated by reading it by means of a custom-designed reader. The tags are read by proximity (through the near field), by displacing them over a resonator-loaded transmission line, and each resonant element (bit) of the tag is interrogated by a harmonic signal tuned to the resonance frequency. The coupling between the reader line and the resonant elements of the tag produce and amplitude modulated (AM) signal containing the identification (ID) code of the tag.

Purpose: This study aimed at implementing lean six sigma to evaluate the productivity and manufacturing waste in the production line of a paper companyMethodology/Approach: The study is a case study in nature. The method illustrates how lean six sigma (LSS) is used to evaluate the existing production process in a paper production company with focus on productivity and manufacturing waste. The study considered a real-time problem of customer’s dissatisfaction. The gathered data is based on machine functionality (up time, down time and cycle time); materials and labour flow at every process stages of the production line. The optimization of the production process was based on lean tools like value stream mapping, process cycle efficiency, Kaizen, 5S and pareto chartFindings: Based on lean six sigma application, it was discovered that the present production performance was below standard and more manufacturing wastes were generated. The present productivity and manufacturing wastes are reported as low process cycle efficiency (23.4 %), low takt time (4.11 sec), high lead time (43200sec), high number of products not conforming to six sigma values, high down time (32.64 %) and excess labour flow (33). After the implementation of the lean six sigma tools for certain period of time, there are lots of improvements in the production line in terms of all the parameters considered.Research Limitation/ Implications: The study has demonstrated an application of lean six sigma in the case of solving real-time problems of productivity and manufacturing wastes which have a direct implication on customer’s satisfaction. The lesson learned and implications presented can still be further modeled using some lean based software for validityOriginality/Value: The study has contributed to the body of knowledge in the field of LSS with focus to process based manufacturing, unlike most literature in the field concentrate more on discrete based manufacturing.

This paper presents a monolithic manufacturing process to realize active-matrix meshed TFT arrays on foil with physical voids between pixels, realizing membrane-like structures for use in biometrics-under-display applications. Moreover, however, the concept enables new applications in the biomedical electronics domain.

Summary Coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) has spread all across the world. Low‐ and medium‐income countries are more affected economically and socially compared to developed countries due to the lack of a rapid, robust, and affordable testing infrastructure. Furthermore, the high cost of real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) system, sophisticated user‐handling procedure, and high expense of the conventional clinical tests are the root causes of the less accessibility of the testing systems to the users. In this study, a COVID‐19 Point‐of‐Care (POC) ecosystem model is proposed for the low‐ and medium‐income countries (or energy deprived countries) that will facilitate the technological development with locally available fabrication components. In addition, the nontechnological development phases have also been discussed, which encompasses the collaboration among academia, local as well as government bodies, and entrepreneurial ventures. In addition, a hypothetical design of a microfluidic paper‐based analytical (μPADs) POC platform is proposed to detect COVID‐19 analyte using unprocessed patient‐derived saliva, which is a miniaturized form‐factor of conventional real‐time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The device contains four major reaction zones, which are sample zone, buffer zone, loop‐mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) Master Mix zone, Ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) zone, and sensor zone. To obtain quicker test results and easier operation, a handheld image acquisition technique is introduced in this study. It is hypothesized that in a remote setting, the proposed design could be used as an initial guideline to develop a POC COVID‐19 testing system, which may be simple, easy‐to‐use, and cost‐effective., A COVID‐19 Point‐of‐Care (POC) model is proposed that will facilitate the technological development with locally available fabrication components. To obtain quicker test results and easier operation, a handheld image acquisition technique is introduced. The proposed design could be used as an initial guideline to develop a POC COVID‐19 system, which may be simple, easy‐to‐use, and cost‐effective.

Solution-processed organic photodetectors (OPDs) have witnessed great progress in the past few years. With silicon-like performance achieved, OPDs enable new medical imaging applications by offering cost-effective light detection over large area. Herein, we illustrate the compelling advantages of high spatial and temporal resolution OPD arrays for medical X-ray detectors and wearable pulse oximeters.

Flying insect detection, identification, and counting are the key components of agricultural pest management. Insect identification is also one of the most challenging tasks in agricultural image processing. With the aid of machine vision and machine learning, traditional (manual) identification and counting can be automated. To achieve this goal, a particular data acquisition device and an accurate insect recognition algorithm (model) is necessary. In this work, we propose a new embedded system-based insect trap with an OpenMV Cam H7 microcontroller board, which can be used anywhere in the field without any restrictions (AC power supply, WIFI coverage, human interaction, etc.). In addition, we also propose a deep learning-based insect-counting method where we offer solutions for problems such as the “lack of data” and “false insect detection”. By means of the proposed trap and insect-counting method, spraying (pest swarming) could then be accurately scheduled.

In the project “Labest Papier – Langzeitbeständigkeit von Papier” (Labest Paper – Long-term durability of paper), the suitability of paper to serve as a permanently undamaged information carrier for at least 500 years is to be assessed by the Department of Paper Manufacturing and Mechanical Process Engineering (PMV) for the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Disposal (BASE). The ageing mechanisms of paper are known, as are countermeasures. This leads to standards and recommendations for the use of paper for documents. DIN EN ISO 9706 (2010) is the main proponent of the direction that longevity can be ensured solely via the composition of the paper and the initial situation at the beginning of ageing. DIN 6738 (2007), on the other hand, takes as its basis the approach of assessing the physical ageing of the paper based on artificial ageing and the strength losses observed in the process. Other standards vary the approaches somewhat or mix them in part, for which the lecture presents a comparison table. The usability of a document depends on two essential factors. Firstly, the residual strength after an ageing process must be high enough for the document to be usable. Secondly, the information written on it must still be legible or at least recognisable. The limits of the possibilities for dealing with damage that has already occurred are almost only set by complete destruction. Otherwise, forensic means can restore the information in a document, at least in part, with the appropriate investment of time and money. The lecture provides examples, such as the reprocessing of shredded Stasi files. Even the loss of knowledge of writing and language need not be a final obstacle, as the decipherment of hieroglyphics proves. The costs of measures to deal with damage depend individually on the condition of the documents and on the objectives in dealing with the damage. Prevention is an effective means of avoiding damage and costs in the first place. Paper is an information carrier well known for over 2000 years and has already proven its suitability for storing long-term information. Despite the fact that an intactness in the sense of being completely untouched is never given, paper has the advantage of a long migration time and that no reading or decoding device is necessary compared to modern information storage media, such as digital media or microfilm. Which grade of paper will ultimately meet the demands, however, depends on the overall consideration of the availability of the grade, the expected damage and the possibilities and costs of handling it. There is still a need for research, especially with respect to the assessment of the effect of printing inks and auxiliaries used in paper production on the longevity as well as the classification of recycled paper. An extensive measurement program is investigating this during the current project. After the project is accomplished, BASE will be able to decide in which way the already existing types of papers including marking can be preserved for as long as necessary and how the state-of-the-art optimised system “paper ink” must be prepared to ensure long-term durability. The paper is based on two working stage reports, AP1 (Schaffrath, 2020) and AP2 (Schaffrath, 2021).

This paper analyses over 89,000 documents between scientific journals and international patents in order to identify main technologies for material pyrolysis (i.e. fluidized bed, hot balls, microwave, plasma, and laser), compare them in terms of technical performances and discover future trends. The predictive model for future trends is based on the evolutionary model of the TRIZ theory, with particular attention to the evolutionary law, “from macro to micro”, which explains how technical systems evolve towards increasingly smaller, controlled, and resource-efficient interactions. In our case, we applied the focus to the interface between the heat source and the pyrolyzed raw material. The proposed evolutionary model showed a substantial alignment with chronological trends, and the model was consistent with both patent trends and those of the scientific literature. To make the analysis quantitatively more robust, a comparison of the different technologies has also been introduced in terms of percentage distribution and the number of patents/papers referring to the different classes of heating rates and reaction temperatures and types of flash/fast/intermediate/slow reaction. Finally, a quantitative metric based on the innovation index has been adopted, to take into account the number of citations normalized on the years of publication. The main outputs of this study identified that radiations-based pyrolysis, involving microscopic interaction, seem more interesting in term of technical performances (i.e. heating rate and reaction temperature), although their technological growth has yet to occur, unlike fluidized bed and hot balls, which typically work at a macroscopic level and seem to have already reached maturity. According to a bibliometric index, laser corpus resulted three time more innovative then fluidized bed reactors papers, especially for heating rates and reactions temperature.