USA/UK

Data from 45 million mobile users further shows poorer people less able to stay at home COVID rules

Low earners generally either simply can't afford to stay at home, or work in professions in which working from home is not possible

TAYLOR & FRANCIS GROUP

Research News

 

People living in deprived, less affluent neighborhoods spent less time indoors at home during lockdown, according to a study that tracked data from millions of mobile phone users across the United States.

The study, published in the journal Annals of the American Association of Geographers, adds to growing evidence that low earners are less likely to comply with stay-at-home orders, either because they simply can't afford to, or because they work in professions in which working from home is not possible.

The finding is concerning given the fact that vulnerable groups are already at greater risk from COVID.

In March 2020, the US like many countries in the world entered a state of lockdown, with its citizens advised to stay at home to curb the spread of Coronavirus. Non-essential businesses closed, with people asked to work from home.

To investigate levels of compliance with these orders, researchers analyzed anonymous tracking data from 45 million mobile phone users across the United States. The authors calculated how much time residents in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Washington D.C., Miami, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Phoenix, Boston, and San Francisco spent at home in the period between 1 January 2020 to 31 August 2020.

They then compared this with demographic information about the neighborhoods in which people lived, collected through The American Community Survey (ACS), a demographics survey program conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau.

The findings revealed that people living in areas with a higher percentage of wealthy residents, and with a higher average household income level tended to spend more time at home under the stay-at-home orders than people living in poor communities. This finding was valid across all cities that the researchers looked at.

The study also showed that education was correlated with compliance, as people who lived in neighborhoods with a high percentage of postgraduates tended to spend longer at home.

"Our study reveals the luxury nature of stay-at-home orders, which lower-income groups cannot afford to comply with," says author Xiao Huang, Assistant Professor of Geosciences at the University of Arkansas.

"This disparity exacerbates long-standing social inequality issues present in the United States, potentially causing unequal exposure to a virus that disproportionately affects vulnerable populations."

In the UK, too, it has been well-documented that those in more deprived and ethnically diverse communities are at greater risk from the virus.

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that those living in the most deprived neighbourhoods have been more than twice as likely to die from COVID as those in the least deprived. One of the reasons for this is thought to be that low-income workers typically have jobs that cannot be done from home, placing them at greater risk of contracting COVID-19.

They are also more likely to have insecure 'zero hours' contracts, making them worry that if they do not go into work they might not have a job to return to.

Previous research by SAGE has also shown that people who earn less than £20,000, or who have savings of less than £100 are three times less likely to self-isolate.

The authors of the study argue that more needs to be done to protect vulnerable groups from the effects of COVID.

"We must confront systemic social inequality and call for a high-priority assessment of the long-term impact of COVID-19 on geographically and socially disadvantaged groups," says Xiao Huang.

 

Solving a double murder arouses international interest

Getting the conclusive lead with investigative genetic genealogy - A successful case study of a 16 year old double murder in Sweden

LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: ANDREAS TILLMAR, DOCENT AND ADJUNCT SENIOR LECTURER IN FORENSIC GENETICS AT THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL AND CLINICAL SCIENCES, LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY. view more 

CREDIT: EDIS PORTORI

The technology using DNA-based genealogy that solved a double murder in Linköping opens completely new possibilities in investigating serious crime. LiU researchers are now involved in spreading new knowledge about the technology, which brings hope to police forces and has aroused major international interest.

"We want to tell others about the problems that we faced when working with this pilot case, and how we dealt with them. We can prevent others reinventing the wheel, and make sure that the knowledge available is extended and improved", says Andreas Tillmar.

He is forensic geneticist at the National Board of Forensic Medicine, and adjunct senior lecturer in the Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences at Linköping University. His research is focussed on developing methods to obtain genetic information from low-quality DNA samples, such that they give sufficient information, for example, to allow searches in genealogical databases. His methods contributed to the murders in Linköping in 2004 being solved.

Together with colleagues from the Swedish Police Authority and the National Forensic Centre, among others, Andreas Tillmar has published an article in the prestigious scientific journal Forensic Science International: Genetics. The article is a case study of a double murder in October 2004, in which an eight-year-old boy and a 56-year-old woman were stabbed to death. The case was finally solved in June 2020.

The Police Authority conducted a legal inquiry early in 2019 which concluded that the double murder was to be used as a pilot case to test the DNA-based genealogy method. After this, it took 1.5 years of collaboration between researchers and authorities before the murderer could be arrested. The successful resolution was a result of the police being able to use commercial genealogy databases and in this way gain access to a significantly larger selection of people to search.

The article describes the technical, legal and ethical aspects that it was necessary to solve during the work, and how the joint work finally gave a solution.

When the Swedish pilot case started in 2019, the technology of DNA-based genealogical research had been used only to a very limited extent. The first known case, from 2018, had resulted in a serial killer known as the Golden State killer being arrested and convicted in the US.

"This case aroused much attention in the media, but the knowledge behind the arrest was never published, since the technology had been managed by a private company. It wanted to keep the knowledge to itself for commercial reasons. It's different in our case: we have knowledge that is in strong demand and we want to spread it", says Andreas Tillmar.

The article describes not only the painstaking work that resulted in improved DNA-based methods: it also gives examples of legal and ethical questions.

The legal questions concern such matters as the current legislation on personal privacy. It is not obvious that detectives are to be able to use genetic information from commercial DNA-based genealogy databases. "It's a grey area. Technology is often one step ahead of the law."

Ethical dilemmas that arise with this type of DNA analysis include the fact that the police obtain the DNA information of individuals and in this way insight into their private lives. This includes kinship relationships, and their risk of developing certain genetic diseases.

"Thus, there is a risk of a conflict between that two important principles: the right of the individual to privacy against the aspiration of society to solve serious crime", says Andreas Tillmar.

He points out that the solution to the double murder has aroused considerable international interest.

"As far as we know, we are the first outside the US to use the technology. We hope that others can benefit from our work, and that we can improve these DNA-based methods through, for example, international collaboration," says Andreas Tillmar.

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The article: "Getting the conclusive lead with investigative genetic genealogy - A successful case study of a 16 year old double murder in Sweden", Andreas Tillmar, Siri Aili Fagerholm, January Staaf, Peter Sjölund and Ricky Ansell, (2021), Forensic Science International: Genetics, published online 8 May 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.fsigen.2021.102525

 

Next-gen electric vehicle batteries: These are the questions we still need to answer

University of Michigan researchers lay out hurdles for tech that could double EV range

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN

Research News

 

The next generation of electric vehicle batteries, with greater range and improved safety, could be emerging in the form of lithium metal, solid-state technology.

But key questions about this promising power supply need to be answered before it can make the jump from the laboratory to manufacturing facilities, according to University of Michigan researchers. And with efforts to bring electric vehicles to a larger part of the population, they say, those questions need answering quickly.

Jeff Sakamoto and Neil Dasgupta, U-M associate professors of mechanical engineering, have been leading researchers on lithium metal, solid-state batteries over the past decade. In a perspective piece in the journal Joule, Sakamoto and Dasgupta lay out the main questions facing the technology. To develop the questions, they worked in close collaboration with leaders in the auto industry.

Major automakers are going all-in on electric vehicles this year, with many announcing plans to phase out internal-combustion engine cars in the coming years. Lithium-ion batteries enabled the earliest EVs and they remain the most common power supply for the latest models coming off assembly lines.

Those lithium-ion batteries are approaching their peak performance in terms of the EV range on a single charge. And they come with the need for a heavy and bulky battery management system--without which there is risk of onboard fires. By utilizing lithium metal for the battery anode along with a ceramic for the electrolyte, researchers have demonstrated the potential for doubling EV range for the same size battery while dramatically reducing the potential for fires.

"Tremendous progress in advancing lithium metal solid-state batteries was made over the last decade," Sakamoto said. "However, several challenges remain on the path to commercializing the technology, especially for EVs."

Questions that need to be answered to capitalize on that potential include:

How can we produce ceramics, which are brittle, in the massive, paper-thin sheets lithium metal batteries require?

Do lithium metal batteries' use of ceramics, which require energy to heat them up to more than 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit during manufacturing, offset their environmental benefits in electric vehicles?

Can both the ceramics and the process used to manufacture them be adapted to account for defects, such as cracking, in a way that does not force battery manufacturers and automakers to drastically revamp their operations?

A lithium metal solid-state battery would not require the heavy and bulky battery management system that lithium-ion batteries need to maintain durability and reduce the risk of fire. How will the reduction in mass and volume of the battery management system--or its removal altogether--affect performance and durability in a solid-state battery?

The lithium metal needs to be in constant contact with the ceramic electrolyte, meaning additional hardware is needed to apply pressure to maintain contact. What will the added hardware mean for battery pack performance?

Sakamoto, who has his own startup company focused on lithium metal solid-state batteries, says the technology is having a moment right now. But the enthusiasm driving the moment, he says, must not get ahead of itself.

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Rigorous testing and data analysis, along with transparency in research, are needed, according to the U-M team. That group includes Michael Wang, now a postdoctoral researcher at MIT, and Eric Kazyak, a research fellow in mechanical engineering at U-M.

Images

Study abstract: Transitioning solid-state batteries from lab to market: Linking electro-chemo-mechanics with practical considerations

The Sakamoto Group

The Dasgupta Group

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UM research suggests social factors important for human-wildlife coexistence

THE UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA

Research News

 

IMAGE: ONE THING BEARS AND PEOPLE HAVE IN COMMON? THEIR LOVE OF A TASTY SNACK. HERE, A BLACK BEAR WANDERS IN THE NINEMILE VALLEY OF MONTANA. view more 

CREDIT: CHARLIE DURRANT

MISSOULA - In bear country, it's normal to find bruins munching down on temptations left out by humans - from a backyard apple tree to leftovers in the trash bin - but these encounters can cause trouble for humans and bears alike. One method to reduce human-bear conflicts is to secure attractants like garbage and livestock feed.

While effective when implemented, this approach requires people to change their behavior, and that makes things a little more complicated.

University of Montana researchers recently published a new study in the Journal of Wildlife Management analyzing why landowners do or don't secure attractants in bear country. The results suggest that collective or socially motivated factors may be a missing and important piece of the puzzle for encouraging voluntary steps to secure attractants and improve wildlife-human coexistence. The researchers also offer suggestions for how wildlife managers might help increase these behaviors through improved messaging and outreach.

Social scientists in UM's Human Dimensions Lab, housed in UM's W. A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, classify human-wildlife interactions as a public-good, collective-action problem - a problem where solutions require contributions from many people and where people's actions affect others. For the study, they applied this theory in Montana's black bear and grizzly bear ranges to investigate how individual and collective factors work together to influence whether landowners secure bear attractants on their land.

"A collective-action problem requires the efforts of two or more individuals to solve," said Holly Nesbitt, a doctoral candidate in the College of Forestry and Conservation and the study's lead author. "We're arguing that securing bear attractants - that coexistence with wildlife - is a collective-action problem because you need multiple people - land owners specifically - to pull it off. Their actions protect themselves and their neighbors."

Nesbitt and her coauthors analyzed data from a 2018 survey of Montana landowners meant to understand their attitudes and behaviors related to bears. Among other questions, the survey asked people about their willingness to secure different attractants, like using bear-resistant garbage bins and removing bird feeders.

Researchers found that the most important factor in determining if a landowner would secure attractants was whether that landowner had talked to a wildlife professional.

"We think that landowners who have talked to a wildlife professional have received information more easily than those who haven't," Nesbitt said. "In theory, they have reduced the time costs of securing attractants, so we think that's why they are more likely to use bear-proof garbage cans, for example."

Other collective factors, like whether their neighbors secure attractants, and the existence of discussion networks (for example, how much social influence an individual has) were equally as important as individual factors like beliefs, age or gender.

"The fact that this is a collective-action problem - that we're in it together, that it needs all of us to solve it, that our behavior has impact on our neighbors, too - leads us to the conclusion that what people are doing around us matters and influences our own behavior," says UM Assistant Professor Alex Metcalf, a coauthor on the study.

The researchers hope the results help wildlife managers reimagine how they communicate with landowners.

For example, wildlife managers and outreach coordinators could potentially increase attractant securing behavior by emphasizing collective factors in addition to individual factors.

"With any sort of outreach or messaging to landowners, there's maybe another opportunity to lean on these other collective factors and include more normative messaging. It might be more effective," Nesbitt said. "Instead of saying, 'Bears are dangerous. Secure your attractants,' say, 'It's really important to your neighbors that you secure your attractants. Your neighbor is doing it, too.' Our data suggests that kind of messaging is likely to be more effective at promoting voluntary behaviors."

The researchers also say, based on the findings, that wildlife agencies would be justified in increasing their efforts to connect with landowners in person, as well as with members of the public who play an important role in discussion networks.

"Our wildlife professionals are critical in connecting with the public, playing an integral role in educating, listening and empowering landowners," said co-author Libby Metcalf, UM's Joel Meier Distinguished Professor of Wildland Management.

While large carnivore populations are decreasing across most of the globe, grizzly and black bear populations are increasing in Montana, offering a unique locale to study how humans and wildlife interact. Nesbitt and her co-authors say understanding how to manage conflict with large carnivores has never been more pressing.

"We need a more comprehensive understanding of how people behave in these situations, and it's often not as simple as we think," Alex Metcalf said.

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Pollen-sized technology protects bees from deadly insecticides

CORNELL UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: A BEEMMUNITY EMPLOYEE, ABRAHAM MCCAULEY, APPLIES A POLLEN PATTY CONTAINING MICROSPONGES TO A HIVE AS PART OF COLONY TRIALS. view more 

CREDIT: NATHAN REID

ITHACA, N.Y. - A Cornell University-developed technology provides beekeepers, consumers and farmers with an antidote for deadly pesticides, which kill wild bees and cause beekeepers to lose around a third of their hives every year on average.

An early version of the technology ¬- which detoxified a widely-used group of insecticides called organophosphates - is described in a new study, "Pollen-Inspired Enzymatic Microparticles to Reduce Organophosphate Toxicity in Managed Pollinators," published in Nature Food. The antidote delivery method has now been adapted to effectively protect bees from all insecticides, and has inspired a new company, Beemmunity, based in New York state.

Studies show that wax and pollen in 98% of hives in the U.S. are contaminated with an average of six pesticides, which also lower a bee's immunity to devastating varroa mites and pathogens. At the same time, pollinators provide vital services by helping to fertilize crops that lead to production of a third of the food we consume, according to the paper.

"We have a solution whereby beekeepers can feed their bees our microparticle products in pollen patties or in a sugar syrup, and it allows them to detoxify the hive of any pesticides that they might find," said James Webb, a co-author of the paper and CEO of Beemmunity.

First author Jing Chen is a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of senior author Minglin Ma, associate professor in the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences (CALS). Scott McArt, assistant professor of entomology in CALS, is also a co-author.

The paper focuses on organophosphate-based insecticides, which account for about a third of the insecticides on the market. A recent worldwide meta-analysis of in-hive pesticide residue studies found that, under current use patterns, five insecticides posed substantial risks to bees, two of which were organophosphates, McArt said.

The researchers developed a uniform pollen-sized microparticle filled with enzymes that detoxify organophosphate insecticides before they are absorbed and harm the bee. The particle's protective casing allows the enzymes to move past the bee's crop (stomach), which is acidic and breaks down enzymes.

Microparticles can be mixed with pollen patties or sugar water, and once ingested, the safe-guarded enzymes pass through the acidic crop to the midgut, where digestion occurs and where toxins and nutrients are absorbed. There, the enzymes can act to break down and detoxify the organophosphates.

After a series of in vitro experiments, the researchers tested the system on live bees in the lab. They fed a pod of bees malathion, an organophosphate pesticide, in contaminated pollen and also fed them the microparticles with enzyme. A control group was simultaneously fed the toxic pollen, without the enzyme-filled microparticles.

Bees that were fed the microparticles with a high dose of the enzyme had a 100% survival rate after exposure to malathion. Meanwhile, unprotected control bees died in a matter of days.

Beemmunity takes the concept a step further, where instead of filling the microparticles with enzymes that break down an insecticide, the particles have a shell made with insect proteins and are filled with a special absorptive oil, creating a kind of micro-sponge. Many insecticides, including widely-used neonicotinoids, are designed to target insect proteins, so the microparticle shell draws in the insecticide where it is sequestered inert within the casing. Eventually, the bees simply defecate the sequestered toxin.

The company is running colony-scale trials this summer on 240 hives in New Jersey and plans to publicly launch its products starting in February 2022. Products include microparticle sponges in a dry sugar medium that can be added to pollen patties or sugar water, and consumer bee feeders in development.

"This is a low-cost, scalable solution which we hope will be a first step to address the insecticide toxicity issue and contribute to the protection of managed pollinators," Ma said.

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Jin-Kim Montclare, a researcher at New York University's Tandon School of Engineering, is a co-author.

The technology is licensed through Cornell's Center for Technology Licensing (CTL). Ma and McArt are advisors for Beemmunity.

The study was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation.

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases

Japan's hands-off formula in disciplining schoolchildren works. Is it worth a try elsewhere?

A look at Japan's mimamoru approach suggests that adults' non-intervention in kids' fights allows children to nurture social and interpersonal skills on their own. Is it worth a try in other countries?

THEY DO NOT HAVE THE SAME CULTURAL ECOLOGY AS JAPAN

HIROSHIMA UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: ZERO TO MINIMAL INTERVENTION DURING CONFLICT AMONG CHILDREN IS A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE MIMAMORU APPROACH PRACTICED IN JAPANESE SCHOOLS TO FOSTER THE VOLUNTARY PARTICIPATION OF KIDS IN THEIR LEARNING. view more 

CREDIT: PEXELS

A study examining Japanese schools' hands-off approach when children fight showed it could create opportunities for autonomy and encourage ownership of solutions, suggesting a new strategy in handling kids squabbles in other countries.

Called mimamoru, the pedagogical strategy is a portmanteau of the Japanese words mi, meaning watch, and mamoru, meaning guard or protect. It is generally understood as "teaching by watching" -- where adults, including early childhood educators, intentionally let kids handle disagreements on their own to promote their learning through voluntary exploration and actions. While not an official part of Japan's early childhood education and care (ECEC) curriculum, it is treated as an implicit guideline. The approach reflects Japanese socialization practices at home and school, where it is a norm for grownups to wait for children to respond to problems and guide them to take ownership of their learning.

"This study aims to understand the reason why Japanese early childhood educators tend not to intervene, and how and in what contexts they do," said study author Fuminori Nakatsubo, ECEC specialist and associate professor at Hiroshima University's Graduate School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

The researchers said insights gleaned from exploring the mimamoru approach could provide educators with fresh perspectives on disciplinary practices, particularly in countries where direct and immediate intervention is prioritized.

Maximizing learning through minimal intervention

A total of 34 Japanese and 12 US early childhood educators participated in focus groups that used modified video-cued multi-vocal ethnography methods to scrutinize the non-intervention strategy. After watching a three-minute clip showing it in action at a private preschool in western Japan, the international mix of educators discussed non-verbal cues exhibited by the students and teachers and the timing of intervention. Their findings are published in the Early Childhood Education Journal.

It may seem counterintuitive to just stand by when youngsters are in a tussle. But the approach sees conflicts as a valuable opportunity for learning which adults can rob kids from gaining if they immediately intercede. Stepping in and judging kids' behaviors may also inadvertently set them up as good and bad, impacting relationships negatively.

The study noted that allowing children to experience a feeling of "It hurts!" (physical pain) or "Oh no, I shouldn't have done it!" (guilt) can be a teachable moment that physical fights do not solve any problem.

Mimamoru's three major characteristics

The researchers, however, clarified that "watching" doesn't mean that adults ignore the safety of children. Japanese educators intervene when the risk of physical harm caused by fighting is greater than the benefit for children to learn.

Japanese and US educators highlighted mimamoru's three major characteristics: temporary, minimal intervention to reduce the immediate risk of physical harm; non-intervention or staying out of the fight to encourage kids to solve their problem; and non-presence or leaving the children by themselves once determined that they can sort out their dilemma without adult support.

Selecting which to apply among these three relies heavily on an educator's patience in balancing benefits vis-a-vis threats, careful observation of behaviors, and trust in the children's capacity to learn from their own experiences.

"Although the mimamoru approach looks passive, it rather challenges educators to remain patient, watching and waiting for children to think and act on their own. An underlying assumption of this Japanese practice is adults' trust in children's inherent goodness, more specifically, their ability to learn through everyday social interactions," the researchers explained.

"In other words, children learn through their exploration of autonomy under the protection of adults."

US participants in the study raised how policies to protect children from any physical harm may not allow educators in their country to wait for kids to solve their own problems. But they recognized that it might be worth trying it out in their classrooms once they secured parental consent and applied some modifications that fit with the country's educational and policy contexts.

Nakatsubo said he hopes their research revealed the "hidden strengths" inherent in the approach of Japanese educators.

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Plant flowering in low-nitrogen soils: A mechanism revealed

HOKKAIDO UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: ARABIDOPSIS PLANTS USED IN ONE OF THE EXPERIMENTS DURING THE STUDY (PHOTO: TAKEO SATO). view more 

CREDIT: TAKEO SATO

Scientists from Japan, Europe and the USA have described a pathway leading to the accelerated flowering of plants in low-nitrogen soils. These findings could eventually lead to increases in agricultural production.

Nitrogen is one of the three macronutrients required by plants for growth and development, along with phosphorus and potassium. Nitrogen-rich condition induces plant growth, particularly the growth of stems and leaves, while delaying flowering. On the other hand, in some plants, low-nitrogen conditions lead to a change from growth mode to reproductive mode, therefore accelerating flowering. However, the molecular mechanisms that regulate flowering under these conditions are not known.

A team of scientists led by Associate Professor Takeo Sato of Hokkaido University's Graduate School of Life Science has revealed the molecular mechanism responsible for the acceleration of flowering in Arabidopsis under low nitrogen conditions. Their findings were published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS).

Arabidopsis, a cruciferous plant, is well known as a model plant in biology and has an extensive database of its protein expression. In the current study, the team first identified a set of proteins involved in flowering that became active as a result of changes in nitrogen level. One of these was the gene regulation factor FLOWERING BHLH 4 (FBH4). Through experiments using FBH4 deficient plants, this protein was found to be responsible for accelerated flowering under low-nitrogen conditions.

Further investigation suggested that FBH4 is extensively phosphorylated by another protein called SnRK1. Low-nitrogen conditions suppress SnRK1 activity, which in turn results in the dephosphorylation of FBH4. The dephosphorylated FBH4 moves to the nucleus to activate genes responsible for flowering. Dephosphorylated FBH4 is also responsible for controlling the expression of other genes vital for plant survival under low nitrogen conditions, particularly those related to nitrogen recycling and remobilization.

The scientists concluded that, in response to inadequate nitrogen, Arabidopsis plants appear to precisely control gene expression related to developmental and metabolic processes required for flowering through FBH4. "The FBH family of genes is present in major crop plants," says Takeo Sato. "Crop plants exhibit early flowering under low-nitrogen conditions; if we can control FBH activities in these crop plants, it might be an effective way to sustainably increase agricultural production."

CAPTION

FBH4 is necessary for accelerated flowering in Arabidopsis. Accelerated flowering is only seen in the wild type(left), but not in FBH4 deficient plants (right) plants, under low-nitrogen conditions (Miho Sanagi, et al. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. May 11, 2021).

CAPTION

Takeo Sato, with Arabidopsis plants in the culture room (Photo: Takeo Sato).

CREDIT

Takeo Sato

 

A helping hand for working robots

A reimagined robot hand combines strength with resilience, sidestepping the problems that accompany existing designs.

DGIST (DAEGU GYEONGBUK INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY)

Research News

 

IMAGE: ANTHROPOMORPHIC ROBOT HAND view more 

CREDIT: DGIST

Until now, competing types of robotic hand designs offered a trade-off between strength and durability. One commonly used design, employing a rigid pin joint that mimics the mechanism in human finger joints, can lift heavy payloads, but is easily damaged in collisions, particularly if hit from the side. Meanwhile, fully compliant hands, typically made of molded silicone, are more flexible, harder to break, and better at grasping objects of various shapes, but they fall short on lifting power.

The DGIST research team investigated the idea that a partially-compliant robot hand, using a rigid link connected to a structure known as a Crossed Flexural Hinge (CFH), could increase the robot's lifting power while minimizing damage in the event of a collision. Generally, a CFH is made of two strips of metal arranged in an X-shape that can flex or bend in one position while remaining rigid in others, without creating friction.

"Smart industrial robots and cooperative robots that interact with humans need both resilience and strength," says Dongwon Yun, who heads the DGIST BioRobotics and Mechatronics Lab and led the research team. "Our findings show the advantages of both a rigid structure and a compliant structure can be combined, and this will overcome the shortcomings of both."

The team 3D-printed the metal strips that serve as the CFH joints connecting segments in each robotic finger, which allow the robotic fingers to curve and straighten similar to a human hand. The researchers demonstrated the robotic hand's ability to grasp different objects, including a box of tissues, a small fan and a wallet. The CFH-jointed robot hand was shown to have 46.7 percent more shock absorption than a pin joint-oriented robotic hand. It was also stronger than fully compliant robot hands, with the ability to hold objects weighing up to four kilograms.

Further improvements are needed before robots with these partially-compliant hands are able to go to work alongside or directly with humans. The researchers note that additional analysis of materials is required, as well as field experiments to pinpoint the best practical applications.

"The industrial and healthcare settings where robots are widely used are dynamic and demanding places, so it's important to keep improving robots' performance," says DGIST engineering Ph.D. student Junmo Yang, the first paper author.

 

A non-invasive procedure allows obtaining archaeological information without excavating

The research, led by members of the CaSEs research group and published in PLOS ONE, represents the first application of pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence analysis), combined with geostatistical data analysis, to anthropogenic sediments in Africa.

UNIVERSITAT POMPEU FABRA - BARCELONA

Research News

 

An international archaeological study, led by researchers from the Culture and Socio-Ecological Dynamics (CaSEs) research group at Pompeu Fabra University, has advanced in the understanding and preservation of archaeological sites and in improving their analysis and surveying, thanks to the application of pXRF (portable X-ray fluorescence analysis) to anthropogenic sediments in Africa. It is a rapid, inexpensive, non-invasive procedure, which enables generating an additional archaeological record from the anthropogenic deposit by analysing chemical elements, combined with geostatistics.

It is a rapid, inexpensive, non-invasive procedure, which enables generating an additional archaeological record from the anthropogenic deposit by analysing chemical elements, combined with geostatistics.

The procedure, which has been successfully tested on the stone walled site of Seoke in Botswana, southern Africa, dating from the eighteenth century AD, is the result of research led by Stefano Biagetti, a member of the CaSEs research group, recently published in the journal PLOS ONE, co-funded by the Palarq Foundation. It has also involved CaSEs members Jonas Alcaina-Mateos, Abel Ruiz-Giralt, Carla Lancelotti and Shira Gur-Arie (now at the University of Munich, Germany), along with Patricia Groenewald (University of Cape Town, South Africa), Jordi Ibáñez-Insa (Geosciences Barcelona, GEO3BCN-CSIC), Fred Morton (University of Botswana), and Stefania Merlo (University of Cambridge, UK).View of the stone structures of Seoke

Stone-walled sites are settlements belonging to the southern African Iron Age, which emerged around 1200 AD, whose size and shape vary considerably. Their name reflects the dry stone wall structures that characterize them, and they were occupied by various Bantu-speaking farming and herding communities: they farmed, hunted and worshipped livestock as a source of both economic and political wealth.

"Our procedure goes beyond the visible archaeological evidence, as it provides information on the use that was made of the space, and confirms or clarifies the possible functions of the areas analysed".

Despite the long tradition of research on the use of space in these settlements, based mainly on ethnographic evidence and excavating small areas of some sites, to date it had proved difficult to perform this analysis using traditional approaches, beyond a general, large-scale architectural assessment: these sites were occupied for short periods of time (one or two generations), they are characterized by the scarce thickness of the archaeological deposits where few objects are found, and they include a large number of stone structures of similar morphology, which complicates identifying the various uses made of them.

"Our procedure goes beyond the visible archaeological evidence, as it provides information on the use that was made of the space, and confirms or clarifies the possible functions of the areas analysed. The research we have conducted has also revealed the existence of 'invisible' archaeological features that cannot be identified by naked eye in traditional field work", Stefano Biagetti explains. pXRF analysis provides rapid results (no more than four minutes per sample), enables analysing relatively large areas in a short time, and the field laboratory can be easily set up, avoiding having to transport large amounts of sediment.

A new approach to understand the functional and symbolic uses of the place

Human settlements can leave evidence in the form of chemical elements in site sediments, that allow identifying many human activities (e.g., areas of the home, for the preparation and consumption of food, burials, handicraft production, storage, livestock, etc.) . "The chemical markers provide an invaluable approach to determine past and recent activities of a place, to understand the spatial dynamics of these activities, and interpret architectural structures in relation to their functions and uses", the authors state.

The potential of this new approach lies in the fact that traces of chemical elements represent repetitive use in certain areas.

The potential of this new approach lies in the fact that traces of chemical elements represent repetitive use in certain areas. "The focus shifts from the absolute values of the chemical elements to their presence, combination, and especially any anomalies created by their deviation from the average for the samples", they state.

Having analysed the Seoke site using the pXRF device and a geostatistical technique called 'Kriging', the researchers detected, for example, phosphorus, indicating the presence of livestock; concentrations of organic materials, referring to the presence of middens; metals such as chromium, iron and zirconium, which fit the hypothesis of an area used as a workshop or for storage, where metal tools may have been used to shape pottery, clearing, wood-cutting, etc.; and silicon, indicating a possible area for processing and storing grain.

An innovative procedure that points to its use in future research

The authors stress that this pioneering procedure in the use of non-invasive techniques might enable unprecedented possibilities in understanding African archaeological sites, without disturbing the cultural heritage through new excavations. "The most promising achievement of our study is that pXRF performs well in the deposits of stone walled sites. The results presented here can be used critically to design surveys and digs at other sites of similar characteristics, and more generally at any other open-air site", they assure.

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This research is part of the project "GeoEtnoarqueologia y uso del espacio (GEA)", directed by Stefano Biagetti and co-funded by the Palarq Foundation (2019 and 2020 calls), the School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Studies of the University of the Witwatersrand (Johannesburg, South Africa), and the University of Botswana.

Reference work: Biagetti, S., Alcaina-Mateos, J., Ruiz-Giralt, A., Lancelotti, C., Groenwald, P., Ibánez Insa, J., Gur-Arie, S., Morton, F., Merlo, S. (May 2021) "Identifying anthropogenic features at Seoke (Botswana) using pXRF: Expanding the record of southern African Stone Walled Sites". PLOS ONE

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0250776

Research: Countries in violation of Baltic Sea Convention, polluting marine environment

The countries around the Baltic Sea do not respect their binding international agreement to reduce agricultural pollution of the marine environment.

AARHUS UNIVERSITY

Research News

 

IMAGE: A SATELLITE IMAGE SHOWS EXCESS ALGAE GROWTH AND EUTROPHICATION OF THE BALTIC SEA IN 2018. view more 

CREDIT: ESA COPERNICUS SENTINEL

The countries around the Baltic Sea do not respect their binding international agreement to reduce agricultural pollution of the marine environment. Despite farming activities being the single most important source of nutrient pollution to the Baltic Sea.

An international research team presents evidence on these circumstances in a recent scientific article in the journal Ambio, published by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.

The countries made a commitment 20 years ago to implement 10 specific reduction measures in their national legislation on agricultural pollution - e.g. featuring minimum storage capacity for manure and regulations on animal densities.

Now the researchers' study of legislations and regulations in place at national level, to address nutrients, finds that none of the nine signatories to the Convention is respecting fully the legally binding agreement. Hence, nutrients are leaching to the marine environment in excess of the Baltic Sea's tolerance limits, causing excess algae growth and eutrophication even in the open sea (see photo).

The larger countries, Poland, Germany and Russia, have the weakest record of implementing the reduction measures in their national legislation. Performance is especially poor in Russia and Poland, but also Germany, despite a ruling by the European Court, lags behind. The best performing countries are Sweden and Estonia. Nevertheless, in all nine countries the study identifies shortcomings in compliance with important reduction measures of the Convention.

"Although the Convention specifies ceilings on the amounts of nutrients that farmers may apply to their crops, ceilings are not implemented fully by any country. Either nutrient ceilings are too generous, apply to part of the territory only or are entirely absent. Notably the ceiling of 25 kg phosphorus per hectare is absent in most places, even if the reduction needs are now most pressing with regard to phosphorus" says Mikael Skou Andersen, professor of environmental science at Aarhus University. He is part of the research authors' team.

The reduction measures were adopted under the Convention in anticipation of financial transfers from the EU to farmers in Poland and the Baltic countries. Yet, the researchers find that the eastern countries only to a very limited extent have put to use the economic support available as part of the Common Agricultural Policy, to provide support for reducing nutrient pollution of the marine environment. The Baltic Sea Action Plan is up for revision every seven years. During the current German Presidency of HELCOM an update and revision is expected to be concluded at the Ministerial meeting October 20.th in Lübeck.

The study was conducted by a research team with participants from Denmark, Finland, Latvia and Sweden, with financial support from the BONUS research program and the Swedish research council FORMAS.

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