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The purpose of this paper is to propose a casting process for the production of double-chamber soft fingers, which avoids the problems of air leakage and fracture caused by multistep casting. This proposed method facilitates the simultaneous casting of the inflation chamber and the jamming chamber.

An integrated molding technology based on the lost wax casting method is proposed for the manufacture of double-chamber soft fingers. The solid wax core is assembled with the mold, and then liquid silicone rubber is injected into it. After cooling and solidification, the mold is stripped off and heated in boiling water, so that the solid wax core melts and precipitates, and the integrated soft finger is obtained.

The performance and fatigue tests of the soft fingers produced by the proposed method have been carried out. The results show that the manufacturing method can significantly improve the fatigue resistance and stability of the soft fingers, while also avoiding the problems such as air leakage and cracking.

The improvement of the previous multistep casting method of soft fingers is proposed, and the integrated molding manufacturing method is proposed to avoid the problems caused by secondary bonding.

This paper attempts to examine the transmission of exchange rate changes into the domestic prices together with other important determinants of later, in case of a developing country, namely, India.

In an open economy Philips curve framework, a symmetric model developed by Pesaran et al. (2001) together with a complete asymmetric model developed by Shin et al. (2014) has been applied to assess the transmission of exchange rate changes into the domestic prices (inflation) of India. In addition, non-linear cumulative dynamic multipliers are used to portray the route between disequilibrium position of short run and new long-run equilibrium of the system. The multipliers highlight the asymmetric adjustment paths and/or duration of disequilibrium and therefore add valuable information to the long and short-run asymmetry.

In symmetric framework, exchange rate pass-through is reported to be incomplete and short-run pass through is found to be lower than the long-run pass through. A contractionary monetary policy stance is observed to decrease inflation in the long-run only and in the short-run, a case for price puzzle is observed, although the coefficient is statistically insignificant. Similarly, the impact of output growth is positive in both the short and long-run and both the coefficients are statically significant. Finally, the oil price inflation is also found to escalate the domestic inflationary pressures in both the short and long run, although the pass-through transmission is lower in the short-run than in the long-run. In case of an asymmetric setting, evidence in favour of directional asymmetry is reported whereby long-run impact of currency appreciation is found to be higher than depreciation. Similarly, a contractionary monetary policy action lowers the inflation, the easy one increases it; however, the impact of both the positive and negative changes in interest rate is found to be symmetric. An increase in GR is found to increase the inflation by a relatively appreciable magnitude than is observed when the fall in GR is reported. The possible reason for this asymmetric response of inflation may be explained in terms of asymmetric behaviour of demand conditions during economic upturns and downturns and downward inflexibility of prices. Finally, the transmission of oil price inflation to domestic inflation is also found to be asymmetric. An increase in oil price inflation leads to an increase in domestic inflation by a higher magnitude. whereas a decrease in it lowers inflation only marginally.

From a policy perspective, it is certainly important for the central banks to monitor the exchange rate changes so as to design the appropriate policy actions to resist any inflationary pressures resulting from the external sector. More importantly, a gauge on the factors that lead to destabilizing exchange rate movements or large currency price fluctuations is highly warranted. The results also highlight the relevance of proper domestic demand management and lowering dependence on oil imports to avoid the unnecessary inflation pressures in the economy.

While some studies have explored the possibilities of asymmetric interactions in the case of India, however, these studies have considered only the partial asymmetric model specifications and have not included a well-established theoretical base to include the other potential determinants of inflation as well. In this regard, the authors applied a complete asymmetric model specification developed by Shin et al. (2014) in an open economy Philips curve framework to assess the transmission of exchange rate changes into the domestic prices (inflation) of India. This paper will enrich the existing literature from a viewpoint of a comprehensive analysis of exchange rate pass-through by taking note of potential asymmetries coupled with other important determinants of inflation.

In this paper, the authors examine the causes of 2021–2023 inflation and evaluate whether raising interest rates is the right solution.

The authors evaluate both the macroeconomic (too much demand) and microeconomic (monopoly pricing and supply chains) explanations for the causes of inflation.

The authors argue that the spike in inflation is due to disrupted supply chains and corporations taking advantage of the situation to raise their prices. The aggregate demand stimulus from fiscal policy had all but played out by the time inflation arose, making it an unlikely cause of said inflation.

The authors' paper demonstrates that raising interest rates is the wrong solution to tackling the problem of inflation, especially since it's coming from the supply side.

The equation of unified knowledge says that S = f (A,P) which means that the practical solution to a given problem is a function of the existing, empirical, actual realities and the future, potential, best possible conditions of general stable equilibrium which both pure and practical reason, exhaustive in the Kantian sense, show as being within the realm of potential realities beyond any doubt. The first classical revolution in economic thinking, included in factor “P” of the equation, conceived the economic and financial problems in terms of a model of ideal conditions of stable equilibrium but neglected the full consideration of the existing, actual conditions. That is the main reason why, in the end, it failed. The second modern revolution, included in factor “A” of the equation, conceived the economic and financial problems in terms of the existing, actual conditions, usually in disequilibrium or unstable equilibrium (in case of stagnation) and neglected the sense of right direction expressed in factor “P” or the realization of general, stable equilibrium. That is the main reason why the modern revolution failed in the past and is failing in front of our eyes in the present. The equation of unified knowledge, perceived as a sui generis synthesis between classical and modern thinking has been applied rigorously and systematically in writing the enclosed American‐British economic, monetary, financial and social stabilization plans. In the final analysis, a new economic philosophy, based on a synthesis between classical and modern thinking, called here the new economics of unified knowledge, is applied to solve the malaise of the twentieth century which resulted from a confusion between thinking in terms of stable equilibrium on the one hand and disequilibrium or unstable equilibrium on the other.

Using an innovative threshold estimation technique, this paper provides new evidence on the relationship between finance and inflation with distinct levels of finance.

The sample consisted of 10 high inflation countries using time series data for the period of 1992–2020. These 10 countries recorded the world's highest inflation rates in 2017.

The findings demonstrate that there is a threshold effect on the finance–inflation relationship. Whilst the effects of finance are consistently positive for below and above the threshold models, financial depth above the threshold tends to aggravate the inflation level.

These results disclose that financial depth could be the cause of high inflation in the top 10 countries and thus, is not necessarily welcome as too rapid of a price increase may in turn reverse the prospect of economic growth. Searching and strategizing for the optimal level of financing is crucial in facilitating price stability and economic growth.

The authors believe that the effect of financial depth on inflation is characterised by being desirable to certain extent and undesirable if over-financing is beyond the optimum level. Therefore, in this study, the authors have introduced the threshold modelling as the potential strategy to connect financial depth and inflation.

This study examines the influence of the global geopolitical risk (GPR) on the relationship between oil prices and domestic food prices under the augmented Phillips curve framework.

Using monthly data on Nigeria from January 1995 to December 2021, the authors accommodate symmetry and asymmetry by adopting the linear and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag, linear and nonlinear Granger causality tests.

The study establishes the positive and significant effects of both oil prices and GPR on food prices in the long and short run, though with a small magnitude in the short run. The asymmetric model shows that, while oil price shocks (positive and negative) exert a positive influence on food prices in the long-run, the effects of oil price shocks differ when accounting for GPR in the short-run. The coefficients of the interactive term, being the moderator of GPR between oil-food prices, are positively significant across models, suggesting that they jointly influence food prices when assuming linearity. The nonlinear model shows that the positive and negative components of interactive terms exert a positively significant influence on food prices, even though food prices tend to be more reactive to positive oil price shocks. The robustness checks show a unidirectional causal flow from oil prices and GPR to food prices under the linear and nonlinear models.

The authors examine the moderating effect of the newly developed global GPR index of Caldara and Iacoviello (2022) on the oil–food inflation relationship in Nigeria by applying the symmetric and asymmetric approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the short-run monetary policy response to five different types of natural disasters (geophysical, meteorological, hydrological, climatological and biological) with respect to developed and developing countries, respectively.

An augmented Taylor rule monetary policy model is estimated using systems generalized method of moments panel estimation over the period 2000–2018 for a panel of 40 developed and 77 developing countries, respectively.

In the case of developed countries, the greatest nominal interest rate response originates from geophysical, meteorological, hydrological and climatological disasters, whereas for developing countries the nominal interest rate response is the greatest for geophysical and meteorological disasters. For both developed and developing countries, the results suggest the monetary authorities will pursue expansionary monetary policies in the short-run to lower nominal interest rates; however, the magnitude of the monetary response varies across the type of natural disaster.

First, unlike previous studies, which focused on a specific type of natural disaster, this study examines whether the short-run monetary policy response differs across the type of natural disaster. Second, in relation to previous studies, the analysis encompasses a much larger panel data set to include 117 countries differentiated between developed and developing countries.

This paper aims to devise a first-of-its-kind methodology to determine the design, operating conditions and actuation strategy of pneumatic artificial muscles (PAMs) for assistive robotic applications. This requires extensive characterization, data set generation and meaningful modelling between PAM characteristics and design variables. Such a characterization should cover a wide range of design and operation parameters. This is a stepping stone towards generating a design guide for this highly popular compliant actuator, just like any conventional element of a mechanism.

Characterization of a large pool of custom fabricated PAMs of varying designs is performed to determine their static and dynamic behaviours. Metaheuristic optimizer-based artificial neural network (ANN) structures are used to determine eight different models representing PAM behaviour. The assistance of knee flexion during level walking is targeted for evaluating the applicability of the developed actuator by attaching a PAM across the joint. Accordingly, the PAM design and the actuation strategy are optimized through a tabletop emulator.

The dependence of passive length, static contraction, dynamic step response for inflation and deflation of the PAMs on their design dimensions and operating parameters is successfully modelled by the ANNs. The efficacy of these models is investigated to successfully optimize the PAM design, operation parameters and actuation strategy for using a PAM in assisting knee flexion in human gait.

Characterization of static and the dynamic behaviour of a large pool of PAMs with varying designs over a wide range of operating conditions is the novel feature in this article. A lucid customizable fabrication technique is discussed to obtain a wide variety of PAM designs. Metaheuristic-based ANNs are used for tackling high non-linearity in data while modelling the PAM behaviour. An innovative tabletop emulator is used for investigating the utility of the models in the possible application of PAMs in assistive robotics.