PERCE's GRIPES: A robot grasp planner

PERCE's GRIPES (Purdue Engineering Research Center's Grip Evaluation System) is an offline robot grasp planner for three-fingered grippers. The planner is based on a generate and test paradigm. Candidate triples of faces (or grasp configurations) are generated using heuristics. The precise coordinates of grip points are selected for each configuration by numerical solution of optimization problems. The constraints imposed by stability considerations are built into the optimization formulations. The accessibility of each candidate grasp is checked based on swept volume computation. Other criteria are used to rank the feasible grasps. This paper describes the modular design and the implementation of PERCE's GRIPES.     

Bactericidal action of ofloxacin, sulbactam-ampicillin, rifampin, and isoniazid on logarithmic- and stationary-phase cultures of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

The bactericidal actions of ofloxacin and sulbactam-ampicillin, alone and in combination with rifampin and isoniazid, on exponential-phase and stationary-phase cultures of a drug-susceptible isolate of Mycobacterium tuberculosis were studied in vitro. In exponential-phase cultures, all drugs were bactericidal, with the higher concentrations of ofloxacin (5 micrograms/ml) and sulbactam-ampicillin (15 micrograms of ampicillin per ml) being as bactericidal as 1 microgram of isoniazid per ml or 1 microgram of rifampin per ml. In two-drug combinations, both drugs increased the levels of activity of isoniazid and rifampin and were almost as bactericidal as isoniazid-rifampin; they also appeared to increase the level of activity of isoniazid-rifampin in three-drug combinations. In contrast, ofloxacin and sulbactam-ampicillin had little bactericidal activity against stationary-phase cultures and were less active than isoniazid or rifampin alone. Furthermore, in two-drug or three-drug combinations, they did not increase the level of activity of isoniazid, rifampin, or isoniazid-rifampin. These findings suggest that ofloxacin and sulbactam-ampicillin are likely to be most useful in the early stages of treatment and in preventing the emergence of resistance to other drugs but are unlikely to be effective as sterilizing drugs helping to kill persisting lesional bacilli.     

Synthesis and characterisation of polyamideimides from bis(4-trimellitimidophenyl)sulfone

Several polyamideimides have been synthesised by the interaction of a number of aromatic diamines with an imidedicarboxylic acid. Since these polymers incorporated a preformed imide group, they did not pose the common problems encountered in imidisation of polyamic acids. They were synthesised by low temperature (<5°C) polycondensation, in 75–92% yields and had viscosities in the range 0.18–0.39 dl/g. They were characterised by IR spectra, elemental analysis, X-ray and thermal methods, and possessed very high solubility in polar aprotic solvents.     

Insider attack mitigation in a smart metering infrastructure using reputation score and blockchain technology

International Journal of Information Security - The increasing use of smart metering infrastructure invites security threats through trusted insiders in spite of the devices’ authentication...     

EP2LBS: efficient privacy-preserving scheme for location-based services

The Journal of Supercomputing - Mobile users frequently change their location and often desire to avail of location-based services (LBS). LBS server provides services to users at the service...     

Corrosion performance of coated reinforcing bars embedded in concrete and exposed to natural marine environment

Corrosion behavior of mild steel plain bar embedded in concrete with 28 days compressive strength of 40 N/mm² exposed to natural marine environment at a location in the Gulf of Mannar was studied. This paper reports the results of 1-year study conducted on the reinforced concrete specimens exposed to three different levels. The performance of three different types of corrosion protection by specialty coatings to rebars, namely cement polymer composite, interpenetrating polymer network coating and epoxy coating was also evaluated periodically by measuring open circuit potential measurements and the results are discussed. Biofouling was predominant on completion of 3 months immersion.     

Studies in Estolides,Part III : Plasticizer for Polyvinyl Chloride

Acetoxy butyl esters prepared from estolides (derived from castor oil fatty acids) were evaluated as plasticizers for poly (vinyl chloride) (PVC) resin. They showed limited compatibility. They were useful as secondary plasticizers for PVC along with dioctyl phthalate plasticizer. The properties of the plasticized stocks were generally comparable to the ones obtained by incorporating 12-acetoxy butyl oleate, the commercial secondary plasticizer. Among the estolides derivatives tried, the acetoxy butyl ester obtained from estolides of acid value 83 showed better performance. 1For parts I and II in the series ,see Refference 3 and 4     

Wave propagation in a generalized thermoelastic solid cylinder of arbitrary cross-section immersed in a fluid

The wave propagation in a generalized thermoelastic solid cylinder of arbitrary cross-section immersed in a fluid is discussed in this paper. The solid medium is assumed to be linear, isotropic, temperature rate-dependent thermoelastic and the fluid medium is assumed to be inviscid. By imposing the continuity conditions on the interface between solid and fluid mediums, the frequency equation corresponding to the problem is obtained using the Fourier expansion collocation method. To compare the model with the existing literature, the results of a generalized thermoelastic solid cylinder without fluid are obtained and they show very good agreement. Also graphs and tables for various values of the material parameters are furnished.