bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Controllable one-step synthesis of ZnO nanostructures using molybdophosphoric acid
Authors: Rashidi Hamed , Ahmadpour Ali , Bamoharram Fatemeh , Zebarjad Seyed , Heravi Majid , Tayari Faranak
Published: September 2013

ZnO nanostructures were synthesised in a hydrothermal reaction of zinc acetate in the presence of molybdophosphoric acid (H3[PMo12O40]) as well as its vanadium-substituted acid (H4[PMo11VO40]) at various times, temperatures, and concentrations. The ZnO nanostructures were characterised by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results demonstrated that the synthesised products are crystalline with a zincite hexagonal phase. Various ZnO nanostructures, such as nanoparticles, microrods, and nanosheets, were produced by changing the experimental conditions. The photocatalytic degradation of methyl orange was also investigated using the ZnO nanoparticles thus prepared. These particles exhibited high performance in the photocatalytic degradation of MO and almost 100 % decolourisation occurred within only 20 min.
Electrochemical storage properties of polyaniline-, poly(N-methylaniline)-, and poly(N-ethylaniline)-coated pencil graphite electrodes
Authors: Arslan Andac , Hur Evrim
Published: September 2013

Three types of conducting polymers, polyaniline (PANI), poly(N-methylaniline) (PNMA), poly(N-ethylaniline) (PNEA) were electrochemically deposited on pencil graphite electrode (PGE) surfaces characterized as electrode active materials for supercapacitor applications. The obtained films were electrochemically characterized using different electrochemical methods. Redox parameters, electro-active characteristics, and electrostability of the polymer films were investigated via cyclic voltammetry (CV). Doping types of the polymer films were determined by the Mott-Schottky method. Electrochemical capacitance properties of the polymer film coating PGE (PGE/PANI, PGE/PNMA, and PGE/PNEA) were investigated by the CV and potentiostatic electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) methods in a 0.1 M H2SO4 aqueous solution. Thus, capacitance values of the electrodes were calculated. Results show that PGE/PANI, PGE/PNMA, and PGE/PNEA exhibit maximum specific capacitances of 131.78 F g−1 (≈ 436.50 mF cm−2), 38.00 F g−1 (≈ 130.70 mF cm−2), and 16.50 F g−1 (≈ 57.83 mF cm−2), respectively. Moreover, charge-discharge capacities of the electrodes are reported and the specific power (SP) and specific energy (SE) values of the electrodes as supercapacitor materials were calculated using repeating chronopotentiometry.
Synthesis of 1,1-diacetates catalysed by silica-supported boron sulfonic acid under solvent-free conditions and ambient temperature
Authors: Sajjadifar Sami , Rezayati Sobhan
Published: September 2013

1,1-Diacetates derivatives were prepared using the direct condensation of aldehydes with acetic anhydride in the presence of silica-supported boron sulfonic acid (SiO2/B(SO4H)3) as a tri-functional inorganic Brønsted acid catalyst under solvent-free conditions at ambient temperature. The salient features of this methodology are: (i) cheaper process ready availability of the catalyst; (ii) versatility; (iii) high regio-selectivity of the procedure and recyclable property of the catalyst.
Natural organic acids promoted Beckmann rearrangement: Green and expeditious synthesis of amides under solvent-free conditions
Authors: Rohokale Sandeep , Kote Santosh , Deshmukh Santosh , Thopate Shankar
Published: September 2013

Naturally occurring organic acids are reported to be highly efficient promoters of the Beckmann rearrangement. Citric, oxalic, tartaric, malic, succinic, malonic, and fumaric acids efficiently promote the Beckmann rearrangement under solvent-free conditions and thermal and microwave irradiation. Tartaric acid was found to be the best promoter of the Beckmann rearrangement under conventional conditions as well as under microwave irradiation. Compared with conventional heating, microwave irradiation provides higher reaction rate and slightly higher yields.
CO2 laser drives extreme ultraviolet nano-lithography — second life of mature laser technology
Authors: Nowak K. , Ohta T. , Suganuma T. , Fujimoto J. , Mizoguchi H. , Sumitani A. , Endo A.
Published: September 2013

It was shown both theoretically and experimentally that nanosecond order laser pulses at 10.6 micron wavelength were superior for driving the Sn plasma extreme ultraviolet (EUV) source for nano-lithography for the reasons of higher conversion efficiency, lower production of debris and higher average power levels obtainable in CO2 media without serious problems of beam distortions and nonlinear effects occurring in competing solid-state lasers at high intensities. The renewed interest in such pulse format, wavelength, repetition rates in excess of 50 kHz and average power levels in excess of 18 kiloWatt has sparked new opportunities for a matured multi-kiloWatt CO2 laser technology. The power demand of EUV source could be only satisfied by a Master-Oscillator-Power-Amplifier system configuration, leading to a development of a new type of hybrid pulsed CO2 laser employing a whole spectrum of CO2 technology, such as fast flow systems and diffusion-cooled planar waveguide lasers, and relatively recent quantum cascade lasers. In this paper we review briefly the history of relevant pulsed CO2 laser technology and the requirements for multi-kiloWatt CO2 laser, intended for the laser-produced plasma EUV source, and present our recent advances, such as novel solid-state seeded master oscillator and efficient multi-pass amplifiers built on planar waveguide CO2 lasers.
Direct Access Compared With Referred Physical Therapy Episodes of Care: A Systematic Review
Authors: Ojha Heidi A. , Snyder Rachel S. , Davenport Todd E.
Published: September 2013

Background

Evidence suggests that physical therapy through direct access may help decrease costs and improve patient outcomes compared with physical therapy by physician referral.

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the literature on patients with musculoskeletal injuries and compare health care costs and patient outcomes in episodes of physical therapy by direct access compared with referred physical therapy.

Data Sources

Ovid MEDLINE, CINAHL (EBSCO), Web of Science, and PEDro were searched using terms related to physical therapy and direct access. Included articles were hand searched for additional references.

Study Selection

Included studies compared data from physical therapy by direct access with physical therapy by physician referral, studying cost, outcomes, or harm. The studies were appraised using the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine (CEBM) levels of evidence criteria and assigned a methodological score.

Data Extraction

Of the 1,501 articles that were screened, 8 articles at levels 3 to 4 on the CEBM scale were included. There were statistically significant and clinically meaningful findings across studies that satisfaction and outcomes were superior, and numbers of physical therapy visits, imaging ordered, medications prescribed, and additional non–physical therapy appointments were less in cohorts receiving physical therapy by direct access compared with referred episodes of care. There was no evidence for harm.

Data Synthesis

There is evidence across level 3 and 4 studies (grade B to C CEBM level of recommendation) that physical therapy by direct access compared with referred episodes of care is associated with improved patient outcomes and decreased costs.

Limitations

Primary limitations were lack of group randomization, potential for selection bias, and limited generalizability.

Conclusions

Physical therapy by way of direct access may contain health care costs and promote high-quality health care. Third-party payers should consider paying for physical therapy by direct access to decrease health care costs and incentivize optimal patient outcomes.
Reliability of a Progressive Maximal Cycle Ergometer Test to Assess Peak Oxygen Uptake in Children With Mild to Moderate Cerebral Palsy
Authors: Brehm Merel-Anne , Balemans Astrid C.J. , Becher Jules G. , Dallmeijer Annet J.
Published: September 2013

Background

Rehabilitation research in children with cerebral palsy (CP) is increasingly addressing cardiorespiratory fitness testing. However, evidence on the reliability of peak oxygen uptake (V̇o2peak) measurements, considered the best indicator of aerobic fitness, is not available in this population.

Objective

The objective of this study was to establish the reliability of a progressive maximal cycle ergometer test when assessing V̇o2peak in children with mild to moderate CP.

Design

Repeated measures were used to assess test-retest reliability.

Methods

Eligible participants were ambulant, 6 to 14 years of age, and classified as level I, II, or III according to the Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS). Two progressive maximal cycle ergometer tests were conducted (separated by 3 weeks), with the workload increasing every minute in steps of 3 to 11 W, dependent on height and GMFCS level. Reliability was determined by means of the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC [2,1]) and smallest detectable change (SDC).

Results

Twenty-one children participated (GMFCS I: n=4; GMFCS II: n=12; and GMFCS III: n=5). Sixteen of them (9 boys, 7 girls; GMFCS I: n=3; GMFCS II: n=11; and GMFCS III: n=2) performed 2 successful tests, separated by 9.5 days on average. Reliability for V̇o2peak was excellent (ICC=.94, 95% confidence interval=.83–.98). The SDC was 5.72 mL/kg/min, reflecting 14.6% of the mean.

Limitations

The small sample size did not allow separate analysis of reliability per GMFCS level.

Conclusions

In children with CP of GMFCS levels I and II, a progressive maximal cycle ergometer test to assess V̇o2peak is reliable and has the potential to detect change in cardiorespiratory fitness over time. Further study is needed to establish the reliability of V̇o2peak in children of GMFCS level III.
Contestation and Citizen-Led Negotiation Around the Establishment of Protected Areas in Nepal Himalaya
Authors: Paudel Naya S , Jana Sudeep , Khatiwada Bhola
Published: September 2013

This paper examines and uncovers the politics and debate emanating from and embedded in the contestations and negotiations around the establishment of protected areas (PAs) in Nepal. We take an example of one of the newly declared PAs – Gaurishankar Conservation Area (GCA)—and traverse through the politics and debate over its establishment. This paper is based on the ethnographic encounters and accounts of everyday dynamics, popular discourse and deliberations since the government’s declaration of GCA in central Nepal. It is driven by a political ecology approach to analyse state – community contestation around nature conservation. We argue that vigorous social campaign at different levels primarily led by Federation of Community Forest User Groups Nepal (FECOFUN) has been able to bring the state and powerful conservation actors on the negotiation table by contesting the hegemony of conservation and rhetoric of community based conservation. The contours of FECOFUN’s campaign around GCA suggest how the nature of contestation and conflict has evolved from a mere resistance and protests towards critical engagement and negotiation with the state conservation actors leading to a democratic governance of GCA. We suggest that concurrent adoption of constant struggle and critical engagement can produce negotiated arrangement of PA governance. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v10i1.8600 Journal of Forestry and Livelihood Vol.10(1) 2012 42-57
REDD Monitoring, Reporting and Verification Systems in Nepal: Gaps, Issues and Challenges
Authors: Jha Bidya Nath , Paudel Govinda
Published: September 2013

Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) is an incentive based approach for climate change mitigation that has gained global attention. Following the global discourse and trend, Nepal is preparing herself to participate in the REDD implementation process with the financing from the World Bank's Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF). Developing a measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) system of monitoring carbon emissions is one of the most important aspects of the REDD mechanism. In this article, we analyse the existing forest resource monitoring system in Nepal with reference to requirements for the REDD MRV design as suggested in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) good practice guide. Our analytical focus revolves around understanding the current policy provisions and institutional infrastructure, as well as identifying existing gaps Similarly, we also analyse the national capacity gaps for designing and adopting the REDD MRV. Finally we have outlined possible issues and challenges for designing and implementing REDD MRV in Nepal. Based on all these aspects, we have suggested a MRV system design that would acknowledge the role of existing institutions and consider the state restructuring.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v9i1.8591 Journal of Forestry and Livelihood Vol.9(1) 2010 21-32
Maoist People’s War and Community Adaptation: A Case of Community Forest User Groups Nepal
Authors: BK Nirmal Kumar
Published: September 2013

The ten year long armed conflict between the state and the Maoists in Nepal had tremendous impact on all sectors and communities in the rural area. However, based on the study of three Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs) of Eastern Nepal, it is argued that CFUGs were less vulnerable than other rural institutions. The paper further discusses how CFUGs adapted their coping strategies and functioned more effectively than other village level institutions during the conflict period. It was observed that due to adjustments of the Maoists agendas for CFUGs planning, such as issues surrounding poverty reduction, social inclusion and caste/ethnic/gender-based discrimination, the Maoists did not adversely affect the CFUGs. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v9i1.8594 Journal of Forestry and Livelihood Vol.9(1) 2010 57-61
A Cartographic Framework for Visualizing Risk
Authors: Kostelnick John C. , McDermott Dave , Rowley Rex J. , Bunnyfield Nathaniel
Published: September 2013

Increased attention to global climate change in recent years has resulted in a wide array of maps and geovisualizations that forecast various scenarios. Since many consequences of climate change are inherently geographic in nature, effective cartographic representations that depict these risks are valuable for planning and mitigation purposes. In particular, sea-level rise resulting from climate change calls attention to the numerous representation issues that warrant consideration for hazard and risk mapping in general, including categorizing and representing risk, selecting an appropriate level of realism, and displaying potential impacts of a hazard on human populations as well as on the natural and built environments. Using examples of potential inundation from sea-level rise at global, regional, and local scales, the authors propose a conceptual framework of key cartographic considerations for maps, Web-based mashups, and geovisualizations that depict risk. The cartographic framework presented here may be extended to other risks of an ambiguous or fuzzy nature and may be used to organize key future research areas for hazard or risk mapping in general.
Vertical Colour Maps – A Data-Independent Alternative to Floor-Plan Maps
Authors: Nossum Alexander Salveson , Li Hengshan , Giudice Nicholas A.
Published: September 2013

Location sharing in indoor environments is limited by the sparse availability of indoor positioning and lack of geographical building data. Recently, several solutions have begun to implement digital maps for use in indoor space. The map design is often a variant of floor-plan maps. Whereas massive databases and GIS exist for outdoor use, the majority of indoor environments are not yet available in a consistent digital format. This dearth of indoor maps is problematic, as navigating multistorey buildings is known to create greater difficulty in maintaining spatial orientation and developing accurate cognitive maps. The development of standardized, more intuitive indoor maps can address this vexing problem. The authors therefore present an alternative solution to current indoor map design that explores the possibility of using colour to represent the vertical dimension on the map. Importantly, this solution is independent of existing geographical building data. The new design is hypothesized to do a better job than existing solutions of facilitating the integration of indoor spaces. Findings from a human experiment with 251 participants demonstrate that the vertical colour map is a valid alternative to the regular floor-plan map.
Mapping Traditional Knowledge: Digital Cartography in the Canadian North
Authors: Engler Nate J. , Scassa Teresa , Taylor D.R. Fraser
Published: September 2013

Digital cartography offers exciting opportunities for recording indigenous knowledge, particularly in contexts where a people's relationship to the land has high cultural significance. Canada's north offers a useful case study of both the opportunities and challenges of such projects. Through the Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre (GCRC), Inuit peoples have been invited to become partners in innovative digital mapping projects, including creating atlases of traditional place names, recording the patterns and movement of sea ice, and recording previously uncharted and often shifting traditional routes over ice and tundra. Such projects have generated interest in local communities because of their potential to record and preserve traditional knowledge and because they offer an attractive visual and multimedia interface that can address linguistic and cultural concerns. But given corporations' growing interest in the natural resources of the Arctic and the concomitant rise in government concern about claims to Arctic sovereignty, such maps may also be of interest to a broad range of actors and for a variety of purposes. Because these projects rely heavily upon, and record, oral knowledge, and because they convert such knowledge into highly malleable and easily disseminated digital content, they raise challenging issues around informed consent, intellectual and cultural property, and privacy. This article identifies and examines these issues and describes the collaborative and interdisciplinary research established to identify and address the use of traditional knowledge in digital cartography.
Decreased head circumference in shunt-treated compared with healthy children
Authors: Nilsson Daniel , Svensson Johanna , Korkmaz Betül A. , Nelvig Helena , Tisell Magnus
Published: September 2013

Object

In this study, the authors' goal was to compare head circumference in hydrocephalic children during the first 4 years of ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt treatment with data on healthy children and to investigate predictors of skull growth in children with a VP shunt.

Methods

Children from western Sweden treated for hydrocephalus with an initial VP shunt insertion performed between 2001 and 2006 who were younger than 12 months of age at the time of surgery were included. Children with major brain malformations, craniofacial syndromes, large cysts, and tumors were excluded. Head circumference, weight, and height at 9 defined ages up to 4 years were obtained and compared with data from a reference population of 3650 healthy children using the standard deviation score (SDS). Predictors (length, weight, etiology of hydrocephalus, valve type, number of revisions, valve setting, number of adjustments, and time of first surgery) for head circumference SDS and changes in head circumference SDS from shunt insertion at 1 year to last measurement were analyzed using bivariate and multiple linear regression analysis.

Results

Fifty children were included. The mean SDSs for head circumference in shunt-treated compared with healthy children were 1.95 ± 2.50 at shunt insertion (p < 0.001, n = 44), 0.38 ± 1.97 at 1 year (p = 0.27, n = 33), −0.96 ± 2.05 at 2 years (p = 0.046, n = 21), −1.39 ± 2.25 at 3 years (p = 0.026, n = 16), and 0.63 ± 3.34 at 4 years (p = 0.73, n = 4). Significant predictors for low head circumference SDS at 1 year of age were low weight (p = 0.002) and short height (p = 0.022) and at last measurement low weight (p < 0.0001), short height (p = 0.002), and 1–4 shunt revisions (p = 0.034). A significant predictor for change in head circumference SDS from shunt insertion to 1 year of age was the number of shunt valve revisions (p = 0.04) and at last measurement an etiology of intraventricular hemorrhage (p = 0.0058).

Conclusions

Shunt-treated children have smaller head circumferences at 2 and 3 years of age than healthy children. Low weight, short height, etiology of intraventricular hemorrhage, and frequent shunt valve revisions are predictors for decreased head circumference. Prospective, randomized studies comparing skull growth using fixed and adjustable pressure-regulated shunt valves and flow-regulated valves are needed.
The Evidence for Early Seventeenth-Century Climate from Scottish Ecclesiastical Records
Authors: Macdonald Alan R. , McCallum John
Published: September 2013

This article argues that the records kept by Scottish church courts in the early modern period provide a rich and untapped source of information on historical weather patterns. This is primarily because severe weather events caused disruption to court meetings, and the nature of the records means that fluctuations in weather can potentially be traced across a wide geographical range and for long periods of time. Based on a sample of records from 1615-25, a period which included a known severe weather event, the flooding of Perth in 1621, the article provides quantitative and qualitative analysis of weather trends, drawing particular attention to an extended period of severe weather from 1619-22, of which the flooding of Perth was a part. It also identifies periods that witnessed much less severe weather and identifies important regional variations in weather patterns which emerge from the study of church court records, in contrast to more traditional sources such as diaries and chronicles. The article thus demonstrates the value of this new methodology for climate history and points the way forward to future studies.
Book Reviews
Authors: Hess Scott , Walton John K. , Kirby Keith , Brutsch Marco
Published: September 2013

John Rignall and H. Gustav Klaus, eds., in association with Valerie Cunningham, Ecology and the Literature of the British Left: The Red and the Green (Scott Hess)
Raél López Romo, Euskadi en Duelo: la Central Nuclear de Lemóniz como Simbolo de la Transicion Vasca (John K. Walton)
L. Auricchio, E. Heckendon and G. Pavini (eds.), Invaluable Trees: Cultures of Nature, 1660-1830 (Keith Kirby)
William Beinart and Luvuyo Wotshela, Prickly Pear: The Social History of a Plant in the Eastern Cape (Marco Brutsch)
Integrating technologies into ‘‘authentic’’ assessment design: an affordances approach
Authors: Osborne Richard , Dunne Elisabeth , Farrand Paul
Published: September 2013

Current pressures in higher education around student employability are driving new initiatives for change. Assessment is also a topic of debate, as it is a key driver of student behaviour, yet often falls behind other metrics in national surveys. In addition, increasing focus on digital literacies is catalysing new appreciations of what emerging digital culture might mean for both students and staff. These three highly topical challenges were jointly explored by the University of Exeter’s Collaborate project, which aimed to create employability-focused assessments enhanced by technology. By combining existing research on assessment with grounded data derived from local stakeholders, the project has developed a model for assessment design which embeds employability directly into the curriculum. Digital technologies have been aligned with this model using a “top trump” metaphor, where key affordances of technologies are highlighted in the context of the model. This paper explores the design-based research approach taken to develop this model and associated “top trumps”, along with results from the first practical iteration. Results suggest that the model is effective in supporting the design of an “authentic” assessment and that a targeted affordances approach can support the alignment of specific technologies with a particular pedagogic design.Keywords: employability; assessment; authentic; affordance; evaluation(Published: 6 September 2013)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2013, 21: 21986 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.21986
The learning design studio: collaborative design inquiry as teachers’ professional development
Authors: Mor Yishay , Mogilevsky Orit
Published: September 2013

The learning design studio is a collaborative, blended, project-based framework for training teachers in effective and evidence-based use of educational technology. Arguably, teachers are the primary change agents in any educational system. Several decades of research have produced an extensive body of scientific knowledge of effective ways to use technology to support learning. Yet, if we want to mainstream this knowledge and use it to improve educational systems, we need to make this knowledge available to educational practitioners. The dominant model of teacher education assumes that teachers should be provided with a solid theoretical curriculum, which they will then apply in their practice. This article argues for an alternative – the design-inquiry model and presents the learning design studio as a manifestation of this model.Keywords: learning design; teacher training; learning design studio; design inquiry; inquiry learning(Published: 6 September 2013)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2013, 21: 22054 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.22054
Large-scale innovation and change in UK higher education
Authors: Brown Stephen
Published: September 2013

This paper reflects on challenges universities face as they respond to change. It reviews current theories and models of change management, discusses why universities are particularly difficult environments in which to achieve large scale, lasting change and reports on a recent attempt by the UK JISC to enable a range of UK universities to employ technology to deliver such changes. Key lessons that emerged from these experiences are reviewed covering themes of pervasiveness, unofficial systems, project creep, opposition, pressure to deliver, personnel changes and technology issues. The paper argues that collaborative approaches to project management offer greater prospects of effective large-scale change in universities than either management-driven top-down or more champion-led bottom-up methods. It also argues that while some diminution of control over project outcomes is inherent in this approach, this is outweighed by potential benefits of lasting and widespread adoption of agreed changes.Keywords: change management; top-down; bottom-up; distributive; leadership; innovation; collaboration; participation; participatory design; curriculum design; institutional practice; large scale; evolving culture; JISC; stakeholder(Published: 6 September 2013)Citation: Research in Learning Technology 2013, 21: 22316 - http://dx.doi.org/10.3402/rlt.v21i0.22316
Modelling the spatio-temporal distribution of age-1 Bay of Biscay anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus) at spawning time
Authors: Ibaibarriaga Leire , Uriarte Andrés , Laconcha Urtzi , Bernal Miguel , Santos María , Chifflet Marina , Irigoien Xabier
Published: September 2013

To efficiently manage and maintain fish stock abundance and age structure, it is necessary to understand variability in its spatial distribution. The main objective of this study was to describe the demographic structure of the Bay of Biscay anchovy during the main spawning period based on adult samples from 15 daily egg production method surveys. The proportion of age-1 individuals was modelled using generalized additive models with a binomial distribution and a logit link in relation to geographical and environmental covariates. The possibility of obtaining different models depending on the average age-1 proportion (low or high) was also explored. In general, age-1 individuals were found in shallow waters close to the coast, especially associated with the Gironde and Adour river plumes, whereas older individuals were prevalent on the shelf break and in oceanic waters. However, in years with a high age-1 proportion the younger individuals were also dominant in oceanic waters. These results could be used for management purposes, such as defining protected areas for particular age groups.
Long-term changes in maturation of sardine, Sardina pilchardus, in Portuguese waters
Authors: Silva Alexandra , Faria Sara , Nunes Cristina
Published: September 2013

Long-term changes in sardine maturation were described using samples collected from landings off the western Portuguese coast since 1947. Estimates of the length at 50% maturity (L50) were calculated in 44 years of the study period and proved to be good proxies of the maturation length of first-year spawners (Lp50 of age 0-1 fish). Sardine probability of maturing at a given length declined from the early 1950s to the late 1960s, corresponding to an increase of ca. 2 cm in both L50 and Lp50. This trend reversed in the early 1970s and halted in the early to mid-1990s. The tendency for sardine to mature at a lower length was positively correlated with improved body condition in the growing season preceding maturation. Long-term trends in sardine maturation and body condition were parallel to trends in sea surface temperature reported in the literature. The results suggest that maturation at a lower size is directly influenced by increased temperature, and that higher temperatures improve body condition through increased feeding efficiency or a combination of both. We found no evidence that fishing intensity has contributed to long-term changes in sardine maturation.
Les dessus et les dessous du lait. Sociologie et politique du lait et de ses dérivés en Mongolie
Authors: Ruhlmann Sandrine , Gardelle Linda
Published: September 2013

Les éleveurs nomades mongols tirent leur subsistance de l’élevage extensif de plusieurs espèces animales. Cet article est consacré à l’étude des modalités de consommation des produits laitiers. Il présente les usages rituels ou ritualisés de ces produits dans des contextes ordinaires et de célébration d’événements de la vie sociale de familles d’éleveurs. Nous mettrons en évidence comment les Mongols confèrent aux dérivés du lait une valeur sociale et un fort contenu symbolique. Depuis deux décennies, la politique de l’État postcommuniste encourage les éleveurs, en érigeant au rang d’emblème national les produits issus de l’élevage, activité qui reste la principale richesse du pays. À travers les pratiques de consommation et d’usage des produits laitiers, tout un système métaphysique proprement mongol ainsi qu’un système de relation entre les vivants d’une part, entre les vivants, les morts et les entités naturelles et surnaturelles d’autre part, se révèlent.
Social and economic aspects of the uses of animal wool and hair in western Mongolia
Authors: Portisch Anna O.
Published: September 2013

This article considers social and economic aspects of the uses of wool and hair derived from domestic animals (sheep, goats, cows, yaks or crossbreeds, horses and camels) amongst the Kazakh population living in the western-most Mongolian province, Bayan-Ölgii. This province is mainly populated by Kazakhs, who form the country’s largest minority and are concentrated in the western provinces. The article begins by contextualising Kazakh households’ economic and domestic practices in the context of the recent past. It briefly outlines the framework for economic activity during the period leading up to the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It goes on to look at domestic uses of wool and hair today, and the social life around such uses and production routines in a small village in Bayan-Ölgii. The article thus explores how the uses of wool and hair from domestic animals are practices which reflect the economic and social situation of the household as well as wider societal processes.
Fifty years of transformation : the decline of nomadic pastoralism in China — A case study from Inner Mongolia
Authors: Merkle Rita
Published: September 2013

Rangeland degradation and desertification is a serious problem in the People’s Republic of China. In the public Chinese discourse pastoralists are seen to be among the chief culprits of this degradation. Taking westernmost Inner Mongolia as case, the article puts this apparently fundamental truth into question. An analysis of the changes in the political and structural framework and their effects on rangeland management shows that the present unsustainable pastoral ecosystem is a result of subtle and complex, social and economic, direct and indirect processes which occur on different levels of the society. The present article is based on the materials collected and analyzed in the author’s PhD dissertation (Merkle 2005).
3D Scene Capture and Analysis for Intelligent Robotics
Authors: Jarvis Ray
Published: September 2013

The capability of robots to function effectively in the unstructured real world is dominated by the extent to which supporting sensory and computational resources can capture and analyse the 3D working environments within which they are to carry out their tasks. Many device technologies and computational algorithms have been developed over the last 30 years to enable such capabilities. This chapter chronicles a diverse range of such developments, comparing and contrasting them and indicating their various strengths and weaknesses to support intelligent robotic functionality in various domains of application.
Lending and Borrowing Library Materials
Authors: Gong Regina H. , Gong Dao Rong
Published: September 2013

The first application of robotic technologies in libraries is in the area of storage and retrieval of library materials. This chapter discusses past, present, and future developments in robotic technologies in the area of library circulation. Issues and challenges libraries face in light of rapid developments in the electronic realm are discussed in relation to circulation. This chapter also highlights future trends and technologies for library lending, as well as possibilities for advancement with the increasing shift towards electronic content in libraries.
Mission Planning of Mobile Robots and Manipulators for Service Applications
Authors: Xidias Elias K. , Aspragathos Nikos A. , Azariadis Philip N.
Published: September 2013

The purpose of this chapter is to present a mission planning approach for a service robot, which is moving and manipulating objects in semi-structured and partly known indoor environments such as stores, hospitals, and libraries. The recent advances and trends in motion planning and scheduling of mobile robots carrying manipulators are presented. This chapter adds to the existing body of knowledge of motion planning for Service Robots (SRs), an approach that is based on the Bump-Surface concept. The Bump-Surface concept is used to represent the entire robot’s environment through a single mathematical entity. Criteria and constraints for the mission planning are adapted to the service robots. Simulation examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the presented approach.
Mobile/Wireless Robot Navigation
Authors: Waqar Amina
Published: September 2013

Sensor-based localization has been found to be one of the most preliminary issues in the world of Mobile/Wireless Robotics. One can easily track a mobile robot using a Kalman Filter, which uses a Phase Locked Loop for tracing via averaging the values. Tracking has now become very easy, but one wants to proceed to navigation. The reason behind this is that tracking does not help one determine where one is going. One would like to use a more precise “Navigation” like Monte Carlo Localization. It is a more efficient and precise way than a feedback loop because the feedback loops are more sensitive to noise, making one modify the external loop filter according to the variation in the processing. In this case, the robot updates its belief in the form of a probability density function (pdf). The supposition is considered to be one meter square. This probability density function expands over the entire supposition. A door in a wall can be identified as peak/rise in the probability function or the belief of the robot. The mobile updates a window of 1 meter square (area depends on the sensors) as its belief. One starts with a uniform probability density function, and then the sensors update it. The authors use Monte Carlo Localization for updating the belief, which is an efficient method and requires less space. It is an efficient method because it can be applied to continuous data input, unlike the feedback loop. It requires less space. The robot does not need to store the map and, hence, can delete the previous belief without any hesitation.
Self Control and Server-Supervisory Control for Multiple Mobile Robots and its Applicability to Intelligent DNC System
Authors: Nagata F. , Yamashiro T. , Kitahara N. , Otsuka A. , Watanabe K. , Habib Maki K.
Published: September 2013

Multiple mobile robots with six PSD (Position Sensitive Detector) sensors are designed for experimentally evaluating the performance of two control systems. They are self-control mode and server-supervisory control mode. The control systems are considered to realize swarm behaviors such as Ligia exotica. This is done by using only information of PSD sensors. Experimental results show basic but important behaviors for multiple mobile robots. They are following, avoidance, and schooling behaviors. The collective behaviors such as following, avoidance, and schooling emerge from the local interactions among the robots and/or between the robots and the environment. The objective of the study is to design an actual system for multiple mobile robots, to systematically simulate the behaviors of various creatures who form groups such as a school of fish or a swarm of insect. Further, the applicability of the server-supervisory control scheme to an intelligent DNC (Direct Numerical Control) system is briefly considered for future development. DNC system is an important peripheral apparatus, which can directly control NC machine tools. However, conventional DNC systems can neither deal with various information transmitted from different kinds of sensors through wireless communication nor output suitable G-codes by analyzing the sensors information in real time. The intelligent DNC system proposed at the end of the chapter aims to realize such a novel and flexible function with low cost.
Design and Operation of Two Service Robot Arms
Authors: Gazeau Jean-Pierre , Zeghloul Saïd
Published: September 2013

The aim of this chapter is to propose original applications and development in the field of robotics. Also the focus is made on the design and operation of two service robot arms. These robots have been developed in the ROBIOSS team of the PPRIME Institute (UPR 3346 CNRS) from Poitiers University, in the context of two different collaborations with industrial partners. The design procedures for these two innovative applications are detailed: industrial and entertainment. The first application concerns a wide printing application; an international patent (Gazeau, Lallemand, Ramirez Torres, & Zeghloul, 2007) was deposited for this device in 2007. The second application was installed in 2006 in the Futuroscope Park: the “artist robot” draws portraits of the visitors every day by using a camera and a pen attached to end-effector.
Prototyping of Lunabotic Excavator Robotic System
Authors: Gari Nicolae , Xiong Xingguo
Published: September 2013

In this chapter, the design and prototyping of a lunar excavator robotic system is proposed. The lunabotic excavator was developed for participating in 2010 NASA Lunar Excavating Competition. Being remotely controlled by operator using a computer via Wi-Fi telecommunication, the autonomous lunabotic excavator can perform the tasks of excavating regolith stimulant, collecting it in the dumpster, and dumping it into the assigned collector box. The design and prototyping of the lunabotic excavator robotic system are discussed. The excavator includes multiple modules including mechanical frames, front/rear wheels, excavating conveyor, steering system, dumping system, power supply and distribution system, actuation system, switch control system, data acquisition system, and telecommunication system. The lunabotic excavator robotic system has been implemented. The excavator can perform the expected functions as designed. The lunabotic excavator designs in NASA Lunar Excavating Competition may lead to new and effective robotic excavators for planetary exploration. The design and prototyping strategies used in the lunabotic excavator may be extended to other ground wheeled vehicles or remotely-controlled robotic systems as well.
Modular Cable-Driven Robotic Arms for Intrinsically Safe Manipulation
Authors: Lim Wen Bin , Yang Guilin , Yeo Song Huat , Mustafa Shabbir Kurbanhusen
Published: September 2013

A Cable-Driven Robotic Arm (CDRA) possesses a number of advantages over the conventional articulated robotic arms, such as lightweight mechanical structure, high payload, fault tolerance, and most importantly, safe manipulation in the human environment. As such, a mobile manipulator that consists of a mobile base and a CDRA can be a promising assistive robot for the aging or disabled people to perform necessary tasks in their daily life. For such applications, a CDRA is a dexterous manipulator that consists of a number of cable-driven joint modules. In this chapter, a modular design concept is employed in order to simplify design, analysis, and control of CDRA to a manageable level. In particular, a 2-DOF cable-driven joint module is proposed as the basic building block of a CDRA. The critical design analysis issues pertaining to the kinematics analysis, tension analysis, and workspace-based design optimization of the 2-DOF cable-driven joint module are discussed. As a modular CDRA can be constructed into various configurations, a configuration-independent kinematic modeling approach based on the Product-of-Exponentials (POE) formula is proposed. The effectiveness of the proposed design analysis algorithms are demonstrated through simulation examples.
Lagrangian Dynamics of Manipulators
Authors: Bandyopadhyay Sandipan
Published: September 2013

Service robots can be thought of as having two types of motion: (a) locomotion of the entire robot, which can be either legged or wheeled, and (b) motion of the manipulator limbs, e.g., object manipulation by the “hands” etc. While the first type is very specialised, in particular in the case of legged motion, the second is fairly generic and can be discussed in detail without making a very heavy demand on the mathematical background of the reader. With that in mind, in the following, the author considers the dynamics of two types of systems, which are known as serial or open-loop, and parallel or closed-loop manipulators. The examples of these would be the hands of a humanoid robot, when considered in isolation, and when clasped together or holding an object with both hands, respectively. The examples considered here would be planar in order to keep them simple; however, the formulation presented would be general, so that the reader can, very easily, use it to model and simulate spatial manipulators.
Small Medical Robot
Authors: Nokata Makoto
Published: September 2013

This chapter describes the development of a small medical robot that remains in the abdominal cavity to monitor sites of medical interest and discusses robot travel operations and specifications. A long, narrow piece of ferromagnetic material was placed inside the robot, and an external magnetic field was used to set the robot in motion. The author developed a prototype robot and conducted experiments in order to verify the proposed concept and the principle of steering the robot. In vivo experiments in rabbits demonstrated that solenoids produce sufficient magnetic force to enable the robot to travel through the abdominal cavity, verifying the motion principles. The experiments also confirmed the appropriate shape of the robot, and friction between the robot and the organs and abdominal wall was measured. A modified prototype of the robot was then used to conduct clinical experiments in the rabbit model; a surgeon operated the XYZ axis stages in order to adjust the position of the subject for the experiment and moved the robot to the liver. Robot travel from the insertion point to the liver was verified on X-rays. The long distance was possible due to the improved shape and the use of accurate magnetic field imaging.
A Swarm Robotics Approach to Decontamination
Authors: Alves Daniel S. F. , Soares E. Elael M. , Strachan Guilherme C. , Carvalho Guilherme P. S. , Xaud Marco F. S. , Couto Marcos V. B. , Mendonça Rafael M. , Freitas Renan S. , Santos Thiago M. , Gonçalves Vanessa C. F. , Mourelle Luiza M. , Nedjah Nadia , Maculan Nelson , Lima Priscila M. V. , França Felipe M. G.
Published: September 2013

Many interesting and difficult practical problems need to be tackled in the areas of firefighting, biological and/or chemical decontamination, tactical and/or rescue searches, and Web spamming, among others. These problems, however, can be mapped onto the graph decontamination problem, also called the graph search problem. Once the target space is mapped onto a graph G(N,E), where N is the set of G nodes and E the set of G edges, one initially considers all nodes in N to be contaminated. When a guard, i.e., a decontaminating agent, is placed in a node i ? N, i becomes (clean and) guarded. In case such a guard leaves node i, it can only be guaranteed that i will remain clean if all its neighboring nodes are either clean or clean and guarded. The graph decontamination/search problem consists of determining a sequence of guard movements, requiring the minimum number of guards needed for the decontamination of G. This chapter presents a novel swarm robotics approach to firefighting, a conflagration in a hypothetical apartment ground floor. The mechanism has been successfully simulated on the Webots platform, depicting a firefighting swarm of e-puck robots.
Stereoscopic Vision for Off-Road Intelligent Vehicles
Authors: Rovira-Más Francisco
Published: September 2013

After mechanization, the next disruptive technology in agriculture will probably be robotization. The introduction of information technology and automation in farm fields started in the eighties with the advent of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and the subsequent development of Precision Agriculture. While being indispensable for many innovative applications, global positioning is not sufficient for all situations encountered in the field, where local sensing is essential if accurate and updated, information has to control automated vehicles. Safeguarding, high resolution mapping, and real time monitoring can only be achieved with local perception sensors such as cameras, lasers, and sonar rangers. However, machine vision offers multiple advantages over other sensing alternatives, and among imaging sensors, stereo vision provides the richest source of information for real time actuation. This chapter presents an overview of current and future applications of 3D stereo vision to off-road intelligent vehicles, with special emphasis in real problems found in agricultural environments and practical solutions devised to cope with them, as image noise, system configuration, and 3D data management. Several examples of stereo perception engines implemented in robotized off-road vehicles illustrate the concepts introduced along the chapter.