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This study aims to investigate the possible use of a deep neural network (DNN) as an inverse solver.

Different models based on DNNs are designed and proposed for the resolution of inverse electromagnetic problems either as fast solvers for the direct problem or as straightforward inverse problem solvers, with reference to the TEAM 25 benchmark problem for the sake of exemplification.

Using DNNs as straightforward inverse problem solvers has relevant advantages in terms of promptness but requires a careful treatment of the underlying problem ill-posedness.

This work is one of the first attempts to exploit DNNs for inverse problem resolution in low-frequency electromagnetism. Results on the TEAM 25 test problem show the potential effectiveness of the approach but also highlight the need for a careful choice of the training data set.

This paper aims to present an iterative path-following method with joint limits to solve the problem of large computation cost, movement exceeding joint limits and poor path-following accuracy for the path planning of hyper-redundant snake-like manipulator.

When a desired path is given, new configuration of the snake-like manipulator is obtained through a geometrical approach, then the joints are repositioned through iterations until all the rotation angles satisfy the imposed joint limits. Finally, a new arrangement is obtained through the analytic solution of the inverse kinematics of hyper-redundant manipulator. Finally, simulations and experiments are carried out to analyze the performance of the proposed path-following method.

Simulation results show that the average computation time is 0.1 ms per step for a hyper-redundant manipulator with 12 degrees of freedom, and the deviation in tip position can be kept below 0.02 mm. Experiments show that all the rotation angles are within joint limits.

Currently , the manipulator is working in open-loop, the elasticity of the driving cable will cause positioning error. In future, close-loop control based on real-time attitude detection will be used in in combination with the path-following method to achieve high-precision trajectory tracking.

Through a series of iterative processes, the proposed method can make the manipulator approach the desired path as much as possible within the joint constraints with high precision and less computation time.

This paper aims to provide a systematic review of extant literature on supplier selection by identifying drivers of integration of Environmental Sustainability (ES) into supplier selection, with the aim of classifying them under broad categories for the development of a framework showing the interrelationships among them.

A search was ran for selected keyword themes using three powerful and rigorous search engines: Scopus, Google Scholar and Science Direct, to identify relevant articles from 12 peer-reviewed journals. These were desk reviewed through manual filtering to select drivers of integration of ES into supplier selection.

Thirty-one drivers identified from 41 relevant articles as propelling integration of ES into supplier selection were then classified into five categories: strong policy direction, high level of commitment, desire for high reputation, robust technology and availability of green products. This yielded a framework showing the interconnectedness among the drivers.

The study contributes to the body of knowledge by developing a classification of drivers of integration of ES into supplier selection. The interconnectedness brought to the fore a more subtle appreciation of the drivers of green integration, which could help expand current knowledge outside the narrow scope of isolated drivers. This study provides detailed analyses of drivers of green integration into supplier selection.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of drivers of integrating green into supplier selection, which is lacking in the body of knowledge on ES.

This article explores how public librarians understand and perform the democratic mission of public libraries in times of political and social turbulence and critically discusses the idea of public libraries as meeting places.

Five group interviews conducted with public librarians in southern Sweden are analyzed using a typology of four perspectives on democracy.

Two perspectives on democracy are commonly represented: social-liberal democracy, focusing on libraries as promoters of equality and deliberative democracy, focusing on the library as a place for rational deliberation. Two professional dilemmas in particular present challenges to librarians: how to handle undemocratic voices and how to be a library for all.

The analysis points to a need for rethinking the idea of the meeting place and offers a rare example of an empirically based argument for the benefits of plural agonistics for analyzing and strengthening the democratic role of public libraries.

This study investigated the contribution of artificial intelligence (AI) to the efficiency of customer service. This study contributes to services technological innovation in process management, a field not yet settled in the literature.

AI is a multidisciplinary field of research that has stood out for the technological dynamism provided to organizational products and processes. The study was carried out at an Analytical Intelligence Unit (AIU) of a Brazilian commercial bank that applies AI integrated with IBM's Watson system. The study used data content analysis, structured and supported by Atlas.ti software.

The notorious AI cognitive maturity evolution allowed 181 million interactions and 7.6 million attendances in 2020, improving services efficiency, with gains in agility, availability, accessibility, resoluteness, predictability and transshipment capacity. The chatbot service reduced the queues of call centers and relationship centers, allowing the human attendant to perform more complex attendances.

The main limitations of this study relate to the research cutout and its borders, such as the choice of participants and their areas of activity, and the choice of the unit of analysis.

The results indicated that attendance through the virtual assistant increased by more than a 1,000% from 2019 to 2020, demonstrating the bank was technologically ready to face the Covid-19 pandemic effects.

In line with the evolutionary theory of innovation, the authors concluded that technological scaling in AI allows exponential gains in customer service efficiency and business process management. They also conclude that the strategy for creating AIUs is successful, once it allows centralizing, structuring and coordinating AI projects in R&D cooperation, cognitive computing and analytics.

This study aims to examine the role of supplier selection and supplier monitoring in public procurement efficiency in terms of cost reduction in Tanzania.

A structured questionnaire was used to collect cross-sectional survey data from 179 public procuring entities in Tanzania. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the collected data.

The findings revealed that supplier selection and supplier monitoring are positive and significant predictors of public procurement efficiency in terms of cost reduction.

This study was conducted in Tanzanian public procurement contexts, so generalisations should be made with caution. Also, this study collected cross-sectional data; other studies may consider longitudinal data.

This study provides procurement practitioners with insights into selecting the proper suppliers and embracing supplier monitoring to achieve procurement efficiency in terms of cost reduction.

This study examines the effects of supplier selection and supplier monitoring on procurement cost reduction as a measure of public procurement efficiency in the Tanzanian context. Consequently, it provides empirical evidence of supplier management practices in the public procurement context.

The literature on public procurement (PP) has increased significantly in recent years, and, to date, several reviews have been conducted to study this relevant subject. Nevertheless, a bibliometric analysis of the PP knowledge domain is still missing. To fill this knowledge gap, a bibliometric review is carried out to investigate the current state of PP research.

A total of 640 journal articles are selected from the Scopus database for the final analysis. The performance indicators of the literature are identified and explained through bibliometric analysis. Furthermore, the conceptual and intellectual structures are studied through a keyword co-occurrence network and bibliographic coupling.

The results of the review indicate that PP research has increased significantly in recent years. The top ten most productive journals, countries, authors and academic institutions are identified. The findings from the keyword co-occurrence network reveal six main research themes including innovation, corruption and green public procurement (GPP). By applying bibliographic coupling, the focus of PP research revolves around seven thematic areas: GPP, corruption, the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in PP, electronic PP, innovation, labour standards and service acquisition. The research potential of each thematic area is evaluated using a model based on maturity and recent attention (RA).

To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first study to successfully organise, synthesise and quantitatively analyse the development of the PP domain amongst a large number of publications on a large time scale.

The purpose of this article is to clarify the social burden of Japan’s three major diseases including Long-term Care (LTC) burden.

A modification of the Cost of Illness (COI)—the Comprehensive-COI (C-COI) was utilized to estimate three major diseases: cancer, heart disease, and cerebrovascular diseases (CVD). The C-COI consists of five parts: medical direct cost, morbidity cost, mortality cost, formal LTC cost and informal LTC cost. The latter was calculated by two approaches: opportunity cost approach (OC) and replacement approach (RA), which assumed that informal caregivers were substituted by paid caregivers.

The C-COI of cancer, heart disease and CVD in 2017 amounted to 10.5 trillion JPY, 5.2 trillion JPY, and 6.7 trillion JPY, respectively (110 JPY= 1 US$). The mortality cost was preponderant for cancer (61 percent) and heart disease (47.9 percent); while the informal LTC cost was preponderant for CVD (27.5 percent). The informal LTC cost of the CVD in OC amounted to 1.8 trillion JPY; while the RA amounted to 3.0 trillion JPY.

The LTC burden accounted for a significant proportion of the social burden of chronic diseases. The informal care was maintained by unsustainable structures such as the elderly providing care for the elderly. This result can affect health policy decisions.

The C-COI is more appropriate for estimating the social burden of chronic diseases including the LTC burden and can be calculated using governmental statistics.

This paper aims to investigate the feasibility of adding macro-textures to triangle meshes for additive manufacturing (AM) focusing on possible time and quality issues in both software processing and part fabrication.

A demonstrative software tool was developed to apply user-selected textures to existing meshes. The computational procedure is a three-dimensional extension of the solid texturing method used in computer graphics. The tool was tested for speed and quality of results, considering also the pre- and post-processing operations required. Some textured meshes were printed by different processes to test build speed and quality.

The tool can handle models with realistic complexity in acceptable computation times. Parts are built without difficulties or extra-costs achieving a good aesthetic yield of the texture.

The tool cannot reproduce sample patterns but requires the development of a generation algorithm for different type of textures. Mesh processing operations may take a long time when very fine textures are added to large parts.

Direct texturing can help obtain parts with aesthetic or functional textures without the need for surface post-treatments, which can be especially difficult and expensive for plastic parts.

The proposed method improves the uniformity and consistency of textures compared to existing approaches, and can support future systematic studies on the detail resolution of AM processes.