Object manipulation system based on image-based reinforcement learning

Intelligent Service Robotics - Advances in reinforcement learning algorithms allow robots to learn complex tasks such as object manipulation. However, most of these tasks have been implemented only...     

The influence of local development on the impact of natural disasters in Northeast Brazil: The case of droughts and floods in the state of Ceará

Using data from the Damage Assessment Reports from the Civil Defence, the current study investigates the relationship between the damage caused by natural disasters and local development at the municipality level in Ceará state, Brazil. The results show that a better urban and water supply infrastructure, a lower population density, and a higher proportion of own revenues relative to total revenues are associated with smaller disaster damage. However, economic development in terms of GDP per capita exhibits a convex relationship with the impact of natural disasters across municipalities, reflecting the potential decreasing returns of preventive investments due to the highly hazardous environment that involves municipalities.     

Evaluation of residual stresses during brazing of Al2O3-ZrO2 to cemented tungsten carbide

In the context of the assembly of a cutting tool for wood machining, this article proposes to evaluate the residual stress in a ceramic plate (Al₂O₃-ZrO₂) induced by a brazing step with a cemented tungsten carbide (WC-Co) through a brazing filler (Ag-Cu-Ti). The residual stresses were evaluated using neutron and X-ray diffraction method. Moreover, a mathematical model was used in the case of a three layer assembly, which is based on mechanical properties such as: the thermal coefficient, the Young's modulus, the Poisson's ratio and the thickness of each layer. The observation of the chemical mapping of the brazing filler before and after the assembly, using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), showed the chemical migration of the titanium to the ceramic oxide and the tungsten carbide. It was estimated that the brazed assembly is under a flexural stress, with a maximum in a compressive stress area near the brazing joint which reaches 85.6 MPa. This stress value reaches 12% of the bending strength allowed by the ceramic (716 MPa). The discussion proposes to highlight the limits of each method. The mathematical model has however shown good accuracy to give a first estimated residual stress in the ceramic plate.     

Accessible software development: a conceptual model proposal

Universal Access in the Information Society - Equal access to all software and digital content should be a reality in the Digital Era. This argument is something defended both by existing...     

P-score: a reputation bibliographic index that complements citation counts

Scientometrics - The notions of reputation and popularity in academia are critical for taking decisions on research grants, faculty position tenure, and research excellence awards. These notions...     

A Flexible Approach for the Reinforcement of Water Networks Using Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis

Water Resources Management - This work proposes a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) as a useful tool for supporting interventions to overcome problems faced by water utilities due to...     

A Shape-Aware Retargeting Approach to Transfer Human Motion and Appearance in Monocular Videos

International Journal of Computer Vision - Transferring human motion and appearance between videos of human actors remains one of the key challenges in Computer Vision. Despite the advances from...     

Intraregional trade shares for goods-producing industries: RPC estimates using EU data

The lack of subnational trade data has dampened the development of reliable regional and multiregional models for regional policy development. So, most researchers and vendors of regional and interregional economic models continue to rely on location quotients, supply–demand pool techniques, or minor modifications of them, despite knowing that they under-estimate interregional trade. In this piece, we analyse the relative viability of estimates of intraregional trade—so called “regional purchase coefficients” (RPCs). We do so for manufacturing sectors in 28 EU countries using the World Input–Output Database. We introduce an RPC-estimating technique using a quasi-binomial regression approach for goods-producing industries; we apply standard supply/demand ratios as RPCs for service-based industries. We then apply the estimates to an aggregate EU input–output (I-O) table and measure how closely the results approximate the I-O tables (direct requirements matrices) for each of the 28 EU nations. We compare these findings to those obtained by other conventional approaches. We also evaluate their ability to replicate the country Leontief inverses and output multipliers. We find quasi-binomial regression approaches superior across the board.