Reliability Abstracts and Technical Reviews January - December 1970

Reliability Abstracts and Technical Reviews is an abstract and critical analysis service covering published and report literature on reliability. The service is designed to provide information on theory and practice of reliability as applied to aerospace and an objective appraisal of the quality, significance, and applicability of the literature abstracted

Journal of Telecommunications and Information Technology, 2006, nr 4

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Study of robotics systems applications to the space station program

Applications of robotics systems to potential uses of the Space Station as an assembly facility, and secondarily as a servicing facility, are considered. A typical robotics system mission is described along with the pertinent application guidelines and Space Station environmental assumptions utilized in developing the robotic task scenarios. A functional description of a supervised dual-robot space structure construction system is given, and four key areas of robotic technology are defined, described, and assessed. Alternate technologies for implementing the more routine space technology support subsystems that will be required to support the Space Station robotic systems in assembly and servicing tasks are briefly discussed. The environmental conditions impacting on the robotic configuration design and operation are reviewed

How does rumination impact cognition? A first mechanistic model.

Rumination is a process of uncontrolled, narrowly-foused neg- ative thinking that is often self-referential, and that is a hall- mark of depression. Despite its importance, little is known about its cognitive mechanisms. Rumination can be thought of as a specific, constrained form of mind-wandering. Here, we introduce a cognitive model of rumination that we devel- oped on the basis of our existing model of mind-wandering. The rumination model implements the hypothesis that rumina- tion is caused by maladaptive habits of thought. These habits of thought are modelled by adjusting the number of memory chunks and their associative structure, which changes the se- quence of memories that are retrieved during mind-wandering, such that during rumination the same set of negative memo- ries is retrieved repeatedly. The implementation of habits of thought was guided by empirical data from an experience sam- pling study in healthy and depressed participants. On the ba- sis of this empirically-derived memory structure, our model naturally predicts the declines in cognitive task performance that are typically observed in depressed patients. This study demonstrates how we can use cognitive models to better un- derstand the cognitive mechanisms underlying rumination and depression

Ecosystemic Evolution Feeded by Smart Systems

Information Society is advancing along a route of ecosystemic evolution. ICT and Internet advancements, together with the progression of the systemic approach for enhancement and application of Smart Systems, are grounding such an evolution. The needed approach is therefore expected to evolve by increasingly fitting into the basic requirements of a significant general enhancement of human and social well-being, within all spheres of life (public, private, professional). This implies enhancing and exploiting the net-living virtual space, to make it a virtuous beneficial integration of the real-life space. Meanwhile, contextual evolution of smart cities is aiming at strongly empowering that ecosystemic approach by enhancing and diffusing net-living benefits over our own lived territory, while also incisively targeting a new stable socio-economic local development, according to social, ecological, and economic sustainability requirements. This territorial focus matches with a new glocal vision, which enables a more effective diffusion of benefits in terms of well-being, thus moderating the current global vision primarily fed by a global-scale market development view. Basic technological advancements have thus to be pursued at the system-level. They include system architecting for virtualization of functions, data integration and sharing, flexible basic service composition, and end-service personalization viability, for the operation and interoperation of smart systems, supporting effective net-living advancements in all application fields. Increasing and basically mandatory importance must also be increasingly reserved for human–technical and social–technical factors, as well as to the associated need of empowering the cross-disciplinary approach for related research and innovation. The prospected eco-systemic impact also implies a social pro-active participation, as well as coping with possible negative effects of net-living in terms of social exclusion and isolation, which require incisive actions for a conformal socio-cultural development. In this concern, speed, continuity, and expected long-term duration of innovation processes, pushed by basic technological advancements, make ecosystemic requirements stricter. This evolution requires also a new approach, targeting development of the needed basic and vocational education for net-living, which is to be considered as an engine for the development of the related ‘new living know-how’, as well as of the conformal ‘new making know-how’

Remote Sensing of Earth Resources: A literature survey with indexes (1970 - 1973 supplement). Section 1: Abstracts

Abstracts of reports, articles, and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system between March 1970 and December 1973 are presented in the following areas: agriculture and forestry, environmental changes and cultural resources, geodesy and cartography, geology and mineral resources, oceanography and marine resources, hydrology and water management, data processing and distribution systems, instrumentation and sensors, and economic analysis

eHealth and the delivery of person-centred care for children with life-limiting conditions: A realist evaluation

Background: Children with life-limiting conditions have complex healthcare needs, creating associated “patient work” for their families and requiring multiple interactions with healthcare professionals (HCPs). Ehealth provides opportunities to enhance communication and support person-centred care, but when and for whom is this most useful, and why?Method: a realist evaluation of use of a bespoke website (MyQuality) for patients with life-limiting conditions and their families, incorporating individualised outcome measurement with an interactive graphic interface accessible to HCPs. The evaluation considered the views of 15 patients/parents and 10 HCP teams about this approach, building on communications models by Brundage and Kujala to develop and refine theories. Self-Determination Theory framed the analysis of deeper mechanisms influencing the delivery of person-centred care.Findings: For patients and their parents, MyQuality use supported life at home through efficient and meaningful documentation of daily life, facilitating reflection and improving understanding about the day-to-day variability in their child’s needs, increasing the parents’ sense of autonomy and competence. HCPs reported it helped to understand their patients’ needs and support these proactively, but only if adequately trained and resourced to meet the needs identified by patients. The patient-controlled content and access triggered concerns for some HCPs about the extent and remit of their role, and trustworthiness of data. Sharing information enabled more efficient prioritisation of needs during subsequent healthcare encounters, shared decision-making based on reliable information, and facilitated development of patient/HCP partnerships, thus supporting person-centred care.Conclusion: This form of ehealth was welcomed by both individual patient/parent users and by many professionals, as it highlighted the perspective of the child and parents in healthcare dialogue. HCPs who struggled to engage with MyQuality described challenges to their professional autonomy, perceived limitations of their competencies, with subsequent difficulties maintaining supportive relationships with families. Future ehealth implementation needs to include recognition and support for the basic psychological needs of HCPs in order to improve communication and person-centred care, and simultaneously support workforce resilience