Design Concepts for a Hybrid Swimming and Walking Vehicle

AbstractThis paper describes the design and proposed control methods for a 6-legged swimming and walking robot that can be used in a variety of different transportation and equipment control applications above ground, under water and above water. Known as the TURTLE (Tele–operated Unmanned Robot for Telemetry and Legged Exploration), a prototype of this mobile robot is currently being designed and developed for experimental testing in the near future. It will be powered by rechargeable electric batteries (to be recharged by solar panels) and all of its actuators will be electric motors, each controlled and monitored by onboard microcontrollers supervised by an onboard master computer. The TURTLE will be fitted with several high-resolution digital cameras, 3D laser and sonar scanners, an IMU (Inertial Management Unit), electronic compass, GPS (satellite navigation) module, underwater sonar transceiver hardware and two or more types of long-distance wireless communications hardware. The first prototype of the TURTLE will focus on basic tasks such as remote video surveillance, 3D terrain surface scanning (above ground and underwater), basic swimming styles, basic walking styles, climbing over large rocks and walking over very rough ground and steep terrain. This paper describes the main objectives, basic performance specifications, functions and mechanical design solutions that have been developed so far for this project. It covers details of the various different swimming modes and feasible solutions for achieving the main design objectives

Did you sleep well on your headrest? – Anthropological perspectives on an ancient Egyptian implement

This paper explores how recent anthropological methodologies (materialities approach) as well as concepts at the interface between archaeology and anthropology (experiential and sensual archaeology) inevitably widens the boundaries of Egyptology. Egyptology however does not only have to be the recipient of new ideas. The material culture of ancient Egypt can equally enrich the discussion of new intellectual frameworks like New Materialism or New Materialities within anthropology. Testing advantages, practicalities and limitations of such theories with the help of the materiality of objects can lead either to their verification and subsequent implementation or in contrast to a – partial – falsification and rework. The crossing point between anthropology and Egyptology is especially interesting and beneficial for the discussion of unprovenanced museum objects whose information regarding the context of origin and any indication of what happened with the artefacts between the moment of discovery and today is completely or partially lost. Taking inspiration from Latour’s actants, Barad’s agential realism and Bennett’s thing power – relating the potential of agency to materials and objects in human lives – the presented case study contributes to a discussion of the physical relationship of material objects and the human body focusing on states when materiality seeps deliberately and dangerously into immateriality. This is explored at the example of unpublished headrests from the Cyfarthfa Castle Museum, Merthyr Tydfil (Wales, UK) by looking on the intersection of bodies with the material that also could be interpreted as inter-material communication. Impressions of fabric on their wooden surface are presumably the imprint of bedding intended to ensure comfortable sleep telling us about the sensual experience using these artefacts. The contact between skin and rough wood needed to be alleviated. This theoretical discussion is then set against an experimental and experiential archaeological approach focusing on sensual experiences with these headrests

An Investigation of measures of perfomance in a complex system

Includes bibliographical references

Sculptured computational objects with smart and active computing materials

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, School of Architecture and Planning, Program in Media Arts and Sciences, 2001.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 325-328).This thesis presents the creative, technological, and philosophical means and methodology, by which technology artists and researchers can materially and sculpturally transform physical computing technology from hard, remotely-designed, plastic shells, into intimately created, sensual computing objects and artifacts. It asserts that the rigid, square, and prefabricated physical materials of computing technology are a fundamental technological and artistic limitation to anyone who wishes to sensually transform physical computing technology, or develop a rich artistic vocabulary for it. Smart and active sculptural computing materials are presented as a solution to this problem. Practically, smart computing materials reduce the number of separate, rigid, and square prefabricated parts required to create physical computing objects. Artistically, active sculptural computing materials give artists and designers the ability to directly manipulate, shape, experiment with, and therefore aesthetically understand the real, physical materials of computing technology. Such active design materials will also enable creative people to develop a meaningful artistic relationship between physical form and computation. The total contributions of this thesis include a proposal for a future three-dimensional design/technology practice, a portfolio of sensually transformed expressive computational objects (including new physical interfaces, electronic fashions, and embroidered musical instruments), and the smart and active sculptural computing materials and processes (in this case smart textiles), which make that transformation possible. Projects from the design portfolio include: The Triangles, and its applications; Electronic Fashions, including the Firefly Dress and Necklace, New Year's Eve Ball Gown, and Serial Suit; The Musical Jacket; Electronic Tablecloths; and a series of Embroidered Musical Instruments with embroidered pressure sensors. Contributions from the supporting technical area include: the first fabric keypad (a row and column switch matrix), a new conductive yarn capable of tying and electrical/mechanical knot, an advanced process for machine embroidering highly conductive, flexible and visually diverse electrodes, an empirical model of complex impedance sensing, and a definition of and test for the machine sewability and flexibility of yarns. These contributions are presented in three sections: 1) the supporting arguments, and philosophy of materiality and computation behind this work, 2) the design portfolio, and 3) the supporting technical story.by Margaret A. Orth.Ph.D

Spatial reasoning in early childhood

This document is about how children develop spatial reasoning in early childhood (birth to 7 years) and how practitioners working with young children can support this. Spatial reasoning is a vital and often overlooked aspect of mathematics. So this toolkit, which is informed by extensive review of research in this areas, will support practitioners to enhance children's early mathematical learning. For the full Spatial Reasoning toolkit: https://earlymaths.org/spatial-reasoning

NMR-spektroskopische Untersuchungen zur Strukturbiologie des Prionproteins

Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs) are rare but fatal neurodegenerative diseases affecting human and animals. The prion protein which is the causative agent, according to “protein-only” hypothesis misfold in to rogue amyloid conformer. Despite several years of studies, the atomic structural details of the rogue conformers have not been clearly understood. This study focused on developing an in-vitro conversion method, which allows us to monitor the transition from unfolded state of prion protein to fibril state. In order to reach maximal unfolded state, we have used 8 M urea as chemical denaturant, pH 2 and prion fragment 90-230 as the model. It has been demonstrated earlier that acidic pH and mild denaturant induce the fibril formation. The mechanism underlying the structural transition from monomeric state to polymeric form is largely unknown. We have confirmed by EM and AFM that fibrils are formed in our conditions, which resemble to naturally occurring fibrils in morphologies observed. The agitation accelerates the rate of fibril formation and, which allow us to do time-resolved NMR on these preparations. The conformational flexibility is inherent to amyloid fibrils and has been observed in our preparations. We aimed to map the important segment of prion protein, which forms the rigid core in its fibrillar structured form. Our time-resolved NMR studies allowed us to monitor the changes happening from unfolded state to fibrillar state. Analysis of data identified the segment between residues 145 to 223 forming the rigid core in these fibrils, which correspond to β strand 2, helix 2 and major part of helix 3 of native prion monomeric structure. Most of the point mutations which are associated with hereditary prion disease are part of rigid core, which undergo a refolding on fibril formation. The C-terminal residues from 224 to 230 displayed peak shifting and therefore, indicate the adaptation to a fibril specific conformation. The major part of N-terminal 90-144 segment, remains dynamic, which can be understood by their accessibility to amyloid specific antibodies. This provides novel structural insight to the amyloid formation from unfolded state of prion protein fragment 90-230, which represents the proteinase-K resistant part naturally occurring prions. Earlier studies have established the core to 160-220 where hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry or site-directed spin labeling EPR spectroscopy was used for analysis. Those studies have been initiated from either native-like or partially unfolded state of recombinant prion protein, and therefore, it is quite striking to find out that fibrils initiated from unfolded monomeric state share the same “amyloid core”. This structural insight has important implications for understanding the molecular basis of prion propagation.Die Transmissible Spongiforme Enzephalopathie (TSE) (deutsch „Übertragbares schwammartiges Hirnleiden“) sind seltene aber tödliche neurodegenerative Erkrankungen die sowohl bei Menschen als auch bei Tieren auftreten können. Der Krankheitserreger, das Prionprotein, liegt basierend auf der „protein-only“ Hypothese, in fehlgefalteten entarteten Amyloid-Konformationen vor. Trotz jahrelanger Untersuchungen sind atomar aufgelöste, strukturelle Einzelheiten der entarteten Konformationen bisher noch nicht vollständig aufgeklärt. Die hier vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Entwicklung einer in-vitro Konvertierungsmethode, die die Beobachtung des Überganges der ungefalteten Konformation des Prionproteins hin zur Fibrillenbildung ermöglicht. Um die höchstmögliche Effizienz des entfalteten Zustandes zu erreichen, wurden 8 M Harnstoff zum Zwecke der chemischen Denaturierung bei einem pH-Wert von 2 und das Prionenfragment 90-230 als Modellsystem eingesetzt. Wie bereits zuvor gezeigt, induzieren azide pH-Werte und milde Denaturierungsmittel die Ausbildung von Fibrillen. Der Mechanismus, der dem strukturellen Übergang von einem monomerem Zustand hin zu polymeren Konformationen zu Grunde liegt, ist weitestgehend unbekannt. Unter Verwendung der Methoden EM und AFM konnte gezeigt werden, dass unter den hier eingesetzten Bedingungen eine Fibrillenbildung stattfindet, die in der Morphologie den natürlich vorkommenden Fibrillen entsprechen. Die Agitation beschleunigt die Geschwindigkeit der Fibrillenbildung und ermöglichte damit deren Untersuchung mittels zeitaufgelöster NMR-Methoden. Die konformationelle Flexibilität ist Amyloid-Fibrillen inhärent und wurde in den hier durchgeführten Untersuchungen beobachtet. Ziel der hier vorgestellten Arbeit war es, das Segment des Prionproteins zu analysieren, welches in den Fibrillenstrukturen den starren Kern ausbildet. Die zeitaufgelösten NMR Untersuchungen ermöglichten die Aufnahme der Veränderung in der Umwandlung des ungefalteten Zustandes hin zur Fibrillenstruktur. Die Analyse ergab, dass das Segment der Reste 145-223 den starren Kern dieser Fibrillen bildet. Dieses Segment entspricht dem beta-Strang 2, Helix 2 und dem wesentlichen Teil von Helix 3 der nativen monomeren Prionenstruktur. Die meisten Punktmutationen, die mit erblichen Prionen-Krankheiten in Verbindung gebracht werden, befinden sich in diesem starren Kern, der in Folge der Fibrillenausbildung eine Umfaltung eingeht. Die C-terminalen Reste 224-230 weisen chemische Verschiebungsänderungen auf und deuten somit auf eine Anpassung der entsprechenden Struktur auf eine spezifische Fibrillen-Konformation hin. Der wesentliche Teil des N-terminalen Segments 90-144 bleibt dynamisch, was möglicherweise durch deren Zugänglichkeit für Amyloid-spezifische Antikörper erklärt werden kann. Die hier dargestellten Untersuchungen liefern neue strukturelle Einblicke in die Amyloid-Ausbildung ausgehend vom ungefalteten Zustand des Prionenprotein-Fragmentes 90-230, welches den Proteinase-K resistenten Teil natürlich vorkommender Prionen darstellt. Vorangegangene Untersuchungen, die auf Wasserstoff-Deuterium Austausch Massenspektrometrie oder ortsgerichteten Spinmarkierungstechniken und EPR Spektroskopie basierten, ermittelten, dass die Reste 160-220 diesen Kern ausbilden. Diese Untersuchungen wurden von entweder nativ-ähnlichen oder teilweise ungefalteten Zuständen des rekombinanten Prionenproteins initiiert. Daher ist es durchaus auffällig, dass Fibrillenstrukturen, die ausgehend von einem ungefalteten monomeren Zustand aus initiiert wurden den gleichen „Amyloid-Kern“ aufweisen. Diese strukturellen Erkenntnisse haben bedeutende Auswirkungen auf das molekulare Verständnis der Prionen-Verbreitung

Основна іноземна мова (англійська): навчально-методична розробка

Навчально-методична розробка з англійської мови «Improve Your English: Learn Vocabulary» призначена для студентів 2-го року навчання спеціальності «Прикладна лінгвістика» Інституту іноземної філології. Запропоновані навчальні матеріали сприяють кращому засвоєнню лексичного матеріалу до тем ‘Design’, ‘Education’,‘Engineering’. Навчально-методична розробка складається з теоретичної та практичної частин, кожна з яких містить по декілька секцій. У першій секції практичної частини запропоновані завдання на повторення і закріплення основного (базового) вокабуляру, поданого підручнику «Language Leader Intermediate». Завдання і вправи з другої секції мають на меті збільшити активний словниковий запас студентів із тем, що вивчаються. Студентам пропонують короткі тексти для читання і вправи, щоб оцінити їхній рівень розуміння матеріалу, уміння узагальнювати зміст прочитаного, виокремлювати ключові слова. Подано низку вправ на переклад з української на англійську мову, побудову словотвірних гнізд, знаходження синонімів та антонімів до запропонованих слів, запам’ятовування і відтворення сталих виразів, розв’язання завдань комунікативного характеру, вдосконалення монологічних і діалогічних навичок. Підбір комплексу вправ даної навчально-методичної розробки сприяє системному вивченню матеріалу з обраних тем. Навчально-методична розробка може бути використана студентами інших вищих навчальних закладів, де вивчають англійську мову як іноземну, слухачами курсів вивчення англійської мови, а також всіма, хто цікавиться даними темами та вивчає мову самостійно

To receive my services you must be dying and alone

Following is a collection of short fiction. The work comes out of the tradition of realism with influences from surrealism and the gothic grotesque. While most of the work of creation centered around character and voice, several themes emerge in the final product. Death and its perception in American society play central roles in many pieces. Also, the collection explores the experience of intimacy in many types of interpersonal relationships. Several of the pieces focus on the effects environment and location have on individuals and how change of location impacts a character. In conjunction with these many themes, obsession as an attempt to attain fulfillment also runs through the works

Constrained parameterization with applications to graphics and image processing.

Surface parameterization is to establish a transformation that maps the points on a surface to a specified parametric domain. It has been widely applied to computer graphics and image processing fields. The challenging issue is that the usual positional constraints always result in triangle flipping in parameterizations (also called foldovers). Additionally, distortion is inevitable in parameterizations. Thus the rigid constraint is always taken into account. In general, the constraints are application-dependent. This thesis thus focuses on the various constraints depended on applications and investigates the foldover-free constrained parameterization approaches individually. Such constraints usually include, simple positional constraints, tradeoff of positional constraints and rigid constraint, and rigid constraint. From the perspective of applications, we aim at the foldover-free parameterization methods with positional constraints, the as-rigid-as-possible parameterization with positional constraints, and the well-shaped well-spaced pre-processing procedure for low-distortion parameterizations in this thesis. The first contribution of this thesis is the development of a RBF-based re-parameterization algorithm for the application of the foldover-free constrained texture mapping. The basic idea is to split the usual parameterization procedure into two steps, 2D parameterization with the constraints of convex boundaries and 2D re-parameterization with the interior positional constraints. Moreover, we further extend the 2D re-parameterization approach with the interior positional constraints to high dimensional datasets, such as, volume data and polyhedrons. The second contribution is the development of a vector field based deformation algorithm for 2D mesh deformation and image warping. Many presented deformation approaches are used to employ the basis functions (including our proposed RBF-based re-parameterization algorithm here). The main problem is that such algorithms have infinite support, that is, any local deformation always leads to small changes over the whole domain. Our presented vector field based algorithm can effectively carry on the local deformation while reducing distortion as much as possible. The third contribution is the development of a pre-processing for surface parameterization. Except the developable surfaces, the current parameterization approaches inevitably incur large distortion. To reduce distortion, we proposed a pre-processing procedure in this thesis, including mesh partition and mesh smoothing. As a result, the resulting meshes are partitioned into a set of small patches with rectangle-like boundaries. Moreover, they are well-shaped and well-spaced. This pre-processing procedure can evidently improve the quality of meshes for low-distortion parameterizations