Mobile Robots

The objective of this book is to cover advances of mobile robotics and related technologies applied for multi robot systems' design and development. Design of control system is a complex issue, requiring the application of information technologies to link the robots into a single network. Human robot interface becomes a demanding task, especially when we try to use sophisticated methods for brain signal processing. Generated electrophysiological signals can be used to command different devices, such as cars, wheelchair or even video games. A number of developments in navigation and path planning, including parallel programming, can be observed. Cooperative path planning, formation control of multi robotic agents, communication and distance measurement between agents are shown. Training of the mobile robot operators is very difficult task also because of several factors related to different task execution. The presented improvement is related to environment model generation based on autonomous mobile robot observations

Forecasting, When Power Law Distributions Apply

Whilst a lot of our strategic focus in the public sector is on linear policy approaches, many systems/ phenomena of importance are defined as non-linear or far from equilibrium. Traditional approaches to linear forecasting have not proved effective for non-linear systems, since non-linear systems follow a different set of rules. Historically, non-linear systems were too hard to forecast, but over recent decades some rules and approaches are starting to emerge. One important and clearly defined category of non-linear systems are those that follow a ‘power-law’ distribution rather than the ‘normal’ distribution, which is often associated with linear systems or systems in equilibrium. My research collects, analyses, and does a comparative analysis of the different power law populations, as well as the main strategic forecasting techniques that can be applied to those populations/ systems. Overall Conclusions and observations. Just as in science and mathematics, there is now a clearly defined separation and understanding of linear and non-linear systems and the rules that apply to each. My thesis has as its central theme, the idea that strategy as a subject also fits this same philosophical separation of approaches, which I have called the strategic planning versus the strategic thinking divide. Strategic planning is essentially the linear approach – being rational and assuming relatively stable conditions. Strategic thinking assumes the world is effectively non-linear and ‘far from equilibrium’. Non-linear approaches mean acknowledging concepts like; punctuated equilibrium, power law ‘log-log’ graphs, ‘scale-free’ characteristics, ‘self organising criticality’, accepting only pattern prediction (including 1/f formulas) and not precise prediction etc. Understanding non-linearity is essential to understand such things as ‘Black Swans’. Luck, serendipity and ‘bounded rationality’ are always involved in non-linear complex adaptive systems, whereas linear systems tend to comply with the so called ‘rational’ traditions in science and economics. Power law statistical distributions can be seen in a wide variety of non-linear natural and man-made phenomena, from earthquakes and solar flares to populations of cities and sales of books. This sheer diversity of effects that have power law distributions is actually an amazing fact that has only become evident over the last decade or so. Since the world contains aspects that are clearly linear and other aspects that are clearly non-linear, it is essential for someone interested in strategy to be able to understand both systems and be able to apply the correct techniques to each approach. The two parts of ‘punctuated equilibrium’ effectively link the two strategic approaches together as there is only one world and not two separate realities. It therefore follows that a strategist needs a good understanding of both strategic planning and strategic thinking, since both are needed for different phases or periods, and perhaps both are needed for any period when you can't tell what phase you are in, which can also happen. I suggest that under a linear phase, the strategic planning approach should be dominant, but supported by strategic thinking (since you never know when events will turn abruptly); whereas in a turbulent non-linear period the strategic thinking approach should be dominant, but supported by strategic planning (since you know that great turbulence will not last). This is a sort of a swapping dominant/ recessive situation, which has a loose parallel in the theory of the left/ right brain split, where it is not wise to use only one style of thinking, since there are two styles which suit different situations. The key is to pick the right thinking style for the right situation. Just as we have one brain, but two thinking styles, so in the strategy toolbox we also have two valid, useful and complimentary general strategic approaches. However for this thesis, I have focused on the non-linear power law aspects of life which have strong implications for strategic thinking, since that is the new area for me as well as one of the new knowledge frontiers for strategy as a subject (and for leadership, politics and many other areas)

The coevolution of the firm and the supply network : a complex systems perspective

A complex adaptive systems approach has been permeating organizational studies and the field of supply network management helping to describe and explain supply network dynamics and emergent inter-firm structures. This has improved our theoretical knowledge of the nature of supply networks transforming raw materials into products, within a constantly changing environment. From the early days of simple structures, describing bi-lateral, local arrangements between firms for the creation of relatively simple products, we are now in an environment of various supply network archetypes, describing different global sourcing regimes of highly integrated, sophisticated products within multi-tier networks. This thesis is a study of the coevolution of the firm and supply network in the commercial aerospace manufacturing sector producing jetliners of 100 or more seats. One of the contributions of this research is to demonstrate how the holistic approach of complexity science can be applied to describe, understand and gain new insight into the coevolution of the firm and the supply network. Based on the findings of multiple interviews and questionnaires in eight global aerospace firms across multiple supply chain tiers, this research finds high-performing clusters of inter-firm characteristics, plus the aspects of structure and integration which deliver the supply network performance. Practitioners can use these specific results to examine their own firms and the new coevolutionary conceptual framework developed in the thesis may aid future research studies of complex adaptive systems in practice. The simple survey design and analysis method used in the final research stage of this research, has the potential for use in other industries, markets and other complex adaptive systems generally to examine performance outcomes and the effects of having or adopting new inter-firm characteristics. Finally, implications for policy include the potential to legitimize supply networks in order to stimulate competition and innovation in the economy.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Modelling the Economic Impacts of Compound Hazards through the Production Supply Chain in the Post-pandemic World.

Climate change and fast urbanization are increasing the likelihood of compound hazards - events where multiple drivers and/or hazards interact with multiplicatively destructive environmental and socio-economic consequences. This includes increases in the frequency of not only concurrent natural extremes (heatwaves and droughts, storm surges and extreme rainfalls, etc.), but also collisions between natural and manmade disasters (air pollution, infectious disease transmission, trade wars, etc.) particularly in the post-pandemic world. Entanglement of different hazardous factors increases the complexity of impact accounting and risk management and requires an integrated solution to tackle the vulnerabilities of human societies towards compound risks. However, most of the research in disaster analysis investigates one hazard at a time. Only a few emerging perspectives have noticed or warned the potential of compound hazards, but they are still far from capacity building for the compound resilience to future crises. This PhD thesis presents a full set of methodology to systematically assess the economic impacts from single to compound hazards. The concept of ‘disaster footprint’ is used here to capture the direct and indirect impacts rippling through the economic supply chain during a single or compound disaster event. A four-stage research framework is proposed. It starts from the direct disaster footprint assessment, which links physical characteristics of hazards with property damage or health impairment by simulating hazard-specific exposure-damage functions. The direct footprint is then fed into an input-output-based (IO-based) hybrid economic model to calculate the indirect disaster footprint that propagates through intersectoral and interregional connections to wider economic systems. The improved IO-based disaster footprint model is built here for single hazard analysis, with innovations regarding inventory adjustment and cross-regional substitutability. Third, within the same disaster footprint framework, the economic interplays between diverse types of hazards are synthesized into the impact assessment, and thereby a Compound Hazard Economic Footprint Assessment (CHEFA) model is developed for compound events. Finally, favourable response and recovery plans, which are aimed to mitigate the total disaster footprint, are suggested by comparing the modelling results under wide ranging scenarios and identifying crucial influencing factors through sensitivity analysis. A major contribution of this thesis is that it takes the first step in the field of disaster analysis to integrate multiple hazardous factors within a macro-economic impact assessment framework that accounts for both direct and indirect disaster footprint into sectoral and regional details. The proposed modelling framework is first applied to three types of hazards (i.e., heat stress, air pollution and climate extremes) on the provincial and national scales in China to demonstrate its flexibility for a wide range of disaster risks. The total economic costs of heat stress, air pollution and climate extreme events in China have increased from US$207.9 billion (1.79$317.1 billion (2.16% of GDP) in 2020. Despite the decreasing economic costs of air pollution and climate extreme events, the economic costs from heat-related health impacts have continued the concerning growing trend. Among the three types of hazards, the economic costs of heat stress were the biggest and accounted for over 70% of the total costs. Heat stress affects the economy mainly by reducing labour productivity. For each unit of direct costs, heat stress was also inclined to cause more indirect supply chain costs than air pollution and climate extremes. Most of the heat-induced direct costs occurred outdoors in the agriculture and construction sectors, while most of the heat-induced indirect costs happened indoors in the manufacture and service sectors. At the regional level, hotspot provinces with prominent economic risks from these hazards have been identified for China. Southern provinces were more economically vulnerable to heat stress than northern provinces, while northern provinces tended to suffer larger economic costs from air pollution than southern provinces. By contrast, the economic impacts of climate extreme events were more spatially distributed in China than the other two types of hazards. Location-specific economic impacts of climate change require location-specific responses, including enhancing inter-departmental cooperation, strengthening climate emergency preparedness, supporting scientific research, raising public awareness, and promoting climate change mitigation and adaptation. Economic implications of climate change are also evaluated with a focus on future flood risks in six developing countries (i.e., Brazil, China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia and Ghana) around the end of 21st century (2086-2115). A physical model cascade of climate-hydrological-flood models is linked with the disaster footprint economic model through a set of country and sector specific depth-damage functions. The total (direct and indirect) economic losses of fluvial flooding are projected for each country, with or without socio-economic development, under a range of warming levels from <1.5°C to 4°C. As a share of national GDP, Egypt suffers the largest flood-induced losses under both climate change (CC) and climate change plus socio-economic development (CC+SE) experiments, reaching 2.3% and 3.0% of GDP under 4°C warming. Climate change acts as a driving factor that increases the flood losses in all countries, but the effect of socio-economic development differs among the countries and warming levels. For Ethiopia and China, future flood losses as a proportion of GDP under different warmings decline from the baseline levels when socio-economic development is modelled, suggesting a more resilient economic growth that helps reduce future flood risks. However, for Brazil, Ghana, and India, while losses as a proportion of GDP initially decline at lower warming levels, increases are seen from 2.5°C or 3°C warming onwards, suggesting a tipping point where increasing flood risk outweighs any relative benefits of socio-economic development. These results highlight the importance of including socio-economic development when estimating future flood losses, essential to provide a more comprehensive picture of potential losses that will be important for decision makers. With the development of the CHEFA model, the economic interaction between concurrent hazardous factors comes into analysis. A hypothetical perfect storm consisting of floods, pandemic control, and trade restrictions (as a proxy for deglobalization) is assumed to test the applicability and robustness of the model. The model also considers simultaneously cross-regional substitution and production specialization, which can influence the resilience of the economy to multiple shocks. Scenarios are first designed to investigate economic impacts when a flood and a pandemic lockdown collide and how these are affected by the timing, duration, intensity/strictness of each event. The results reveal that a global pandemic control aggravates the flood impacts by hampering the post-flood capital reconstruction, but a flood exacerbates the pandemic impacts only when the flood damage is large enough to exceed the stimulus effect of the flood-related reconstruction. Generally, an immediate, stricter but shorter pandemic control policy would help to reduce the economic costs inflicted by a perfect storm. The study then examines how export restrictions and retaliatory countermeasures during the pandemic and floods influence the economic consequences and recovery, especially when there is specialization of production of key sectors. It finds that the trade restriction of a region to ‘protect’ its product that can be substituted by the same product made elsewhere, while hampering the global recovery, may alleviate the region’s own loss during the compound disasters if the increasing domestic demand exceeds the negative impacts of falling exports. By comparison, the trade restriction on a non-substitutable product has greater negative impacts on the global recovery, which ultimately propagates backward to the region through the supply chain and exacerbates its own loss. The results also indicate that the potential retaliation from another region and sector would further deteriorate the global recovery and make everyone lose, with the region which initiates the trade war losing even more when the retaliatory restriction is also imposed on a non-substitutable product. Therefore, regional or global cooperation is needed to address the spillover effects of such compound events, especially in the context of the risks from deglobalization. The CHEFA model has been then successfully applied to a real compound event of the 2021 extreme floods and a COVID-19 wave in Zhengzhou, the capital city of Henan province in China. The event was rare in history and has caused enormous economic consequences (direct damage worthy of 66,603 million yuan and indirect losses worthy of 44,340 million yuan) to the city, reaching a total of 10.28% of its GDP during the previous year. The negative impacts also spilled over to the whole nation through the production supply chain, making the total economic losses amount to 131,714 million yuan (0.13% of China’s GDP in the previous year). The local lockdown to control the spread of COVID-19 has increased the indirect losses by 77% and the indirect/direct loss ratio from 0.55 to 0.98. While a majority (29%) of direct losses happened in Zhengzhou’s real estate industry, the indirect losses were more distributed in Zhengzhou’s non-metallic mineral products (13%), food and tobacco (10%), and transportation services (10%). Zhengzhou’s non-metallic mineral sector is also a critical sector with strong propagation effects. The reduction in its production has triggered a supply chain loss of 10,537 million yuan in terms of trades with other sectors and regions, which nearly doubled its value-added loss. In regions outside Zhengzhou, the agriculture, mining, petroleum and coking, chemical products, accommodation and restaurants, and financial services were the sectors significantly affected by this compound event. Among them, the agriculture in Henan (outside Zhengzhou) suffered the greatest indirect (or value-added) loss at 2,760 million yuan. The study also finds that the post-disaster economic resilience is most sensitive to factors such as road recovery rate, reconstruction efficiency and consumption subsidies, and the COVID-19 control tends to reduce the marginal economic benefits of flood emergency efforts. As low-likelihood compound extreme events become more frequent with global warming, concerted actions are in urgent need to address the intricate dilemma between disaster relief, disease control and economic growth at both individual and institutional levels. Overall, this PhD study develops an integrated assessment framework for the direct and indirect economic impacts from single to compound hazardous events. Within this framework, consistent and comparable loss metrics are elicited for different types of hazards, either single or compound ones, advancing the understanding of their economic risk transmission channels through the production supply chain. Knowing the economic complexity intrinsic to the disaster mixes will foster a sustainable risk management strategy that balances different emergency needs at the minimal economic costs, and guide investment to risk preparedness against the growing threats under climate change. In addition, collaborative efforts are required from the local to global levels to enhance the economic resilience towards future crises in complex situations. This is crucial to achieve the mitigation and adaptation targets in the Paris Agreement and Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction

The restorative power of natural and built environments

This thesis explores the relationship between environmental affect and mental health using restorative theory as an organising framework. Environmental affect can be described as how the physical environment (home, park etc) and social context (being with a friend) influence emotion and thereby various activities and outcomes. Three types of psychological experiences are explored, theoretically grouped under the rubric “restorative”: discrete (short-term) psychological restoration, instoration (longer term strengthening of internal resources) and person-environment fit conceptualised as niche environments supportive of 1) personal goals and 2) mood regulation. Mixed research methods (qualitative and quantitative) were used to elicit the affective dimensions of different settings (natural vs. built-external vs. built-internal) across several different groups within the population. A key aim was to explore whether restorative experiences would differ between settings in adults and young people with and without mental health problems. Five studies are presented, each exploring one or more aspect of the three part restorative framework outlined above, with one additional study focusing on social restoration. Two aspects of psychological restoration are examined: firstly, mood and secondly, cognitive reflection (defined as “changes in perspective” on life tasks over time1) using personal project analysis (Little 1983). Evidence of discrete restoration: the research supports existing empirical evidence linking activity in natural settings with mood restoration and adds to the evidence base by showing the benefits also extend to manageability of life tasks. New evidence is provided showing people with variable mental health differ in their potential for restoration, both in terms of the intensity of the experience and in response to the places in which the process occurs. People with poor mental health experienced more intensive restoration in a natural setting, but also responded more favourably to the urban setting than people without mental health problems. Natural settings promoted a mental equanimity2 across individuals with variable mental health as compared to the built setting where group outcomes diverged. 1For simplification this is referred to as “mindset” in the research 2 A levelling out of mood differences iii Evidence of instoration; the research supports the notion that activity in green settings can sustain longer term instorative benefits in adults and young people with mental health problems including increased capacity for trust and recollection, exploratory behaviour and social cohesion. Evidence of person-environment fit: a. niche environments supportive of mood regulation: the research extends existing evidence by showing natural and built settings support the continuum of good mood as well as the negation of bad mood in young people. b. niche environments supportive of personal goals: natural settings support age specific needs in young people for new experiences and community cohesion (in the form of societal projects), two dimensions supportive of well-being. Affect was found to be a significant discriminator between settings with positive affect aligned with the natural environment. Conclusions: results are consistent with a restorative effect of landscape and suggest differing states of mental health moderate in restorative processes. The research has also shown that the built environment is potentially restorative amongst certain health groups. The affective quality of environments varies and the ‘personal project’ research has shown the potential impact on well-being. Items flagged for further research include firstly, the need for further evidence on the relationship between the challenge of green activity and self-esteem in poor mental health groups; and secondly, the need to identify exactly what aspects of the built environment cause restorative differences to occur (i.e. the social context v. physical).Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)Forestry CommissionCOST Action E5

Designing sound : procedural audio research based on the book by Andy Farnell

In procedural media, data normally acquired by measuring something, commonly described as sampling, is replaced by a set of computational rules (procedure) that defines the typical structure and/or behaviour of that thing. Here, a general approach to sound as a definable process, rather than a recording, is developed. By analysis of their physical and perceptual qualities, natural objects or processes that produce sound are modelled by digital Sounding Objects for use in arts and entertainments. This Thesis discusses different aspects of Procedural Audio introducing several new approaches and solutions to this emerging field of Sound Design.Em Media Procedimental, os dados os dados normalmente adquiridos através da medição de algo habitualmente designado como amostragem, são substituídos por um conjunto de regras computacionais (procedimento) que definem a estrutura típica, ou comportamento, desse elemento. Neste caso é desenvolvida uma abordagem ao som definível como um procedimento em vez de uma gravação. Através da análise das suas características físicas e perceptuais , objetos naturais ou processos que produzem som, são modelados como objetos sonoros digitais para utilização nas Artes e Entretenimento. Nesta Tese são discutidos diferentes aspectos de Áudio Procedimental, sendo introduzidas várias novas abordagens e soluções para o campo emergente do Design Sonoro

MS FT-2-2 7 Orthogonal polynomials and quadrature: Theory, computation, and applications

Quadrature rules find many applications in science and engineering. Their analysis is a classical area of applied mathematics and continues to attract considerable attention. This seminar brings together speakers with expertise in a large variety of quadrature rules. It is the aim of the seminar to provide an overview of recent developments in the analysis of quadrature rules. The computation of error estimates and novel applications also are described

Generalized averaged Gaussian quadrature and applications

A simple numerical method for constructing the optimal generalized averaged Gaussian quadrature formulas will be presented. These formulas exist in many cases in which real positive GaussKronrod formulas do not exist, and can be used as an adequate alternative in order to estimate the error of a Gaussian rule. We also investigate the conditions under which the optimal averaged Gaussian quadrature formulas and their truncated variants are internal

Reindeer Husbandry and Global Environmental Change

This volume offers a holistic understanding of the environmental and societal challenges that affect reindeer husbandry in Fennoscandia today. Reindeer husbandry is a livelihood with a long traditional heritage and cultural importance. Like many other pastoral societies, reindeer herders are confronted with significant challenges. Covering Norway, Sweden and Finland – three countries with many differences and similarities – this volume examines how reindeer husbandry is affected by and responds to global environmental change and resource extraction in boreal and arctic social-ecological systems. Beginning with an historical overview of reindeer husbandry, the volume analyses the realities of the present from different perspectives and disciplines. Genetics, behavioural ecology of reindeer, other forms of land use, pastoralists’ norms and knowledge, bio-economy and governance structures all set the stage for the complex internal and externally imposed dynamics within reindeer husbandry. In-depth analyses are devoted to particularly urgent challenges, such as land-use conflicts, climate change and predation, identified as having a high potential to shape the future pathways of the pastoral identity and productivity. These futures, with their risks and opportunities, are explored in the final section, offering a synthesis of the comparative approach between the three countries that runs as a recurring theme through the book. With its richness and depth, this volume contributes significantly to the understanding of the substantial impacts on pastoralist communities in northernmost Europe today, while highlighting viable pathways to maintaining reindeer husbandry for the future. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of both the natural and social sciences who work on natural resource management, global environmental change, pastoralism, ecology, social-ecological systems, rangeland management and Indigenous studies

Voices in Psychosis

Voices in Psychosis: Interdisciplinary Perspectives deepens and extends the understanding of hearing voices in psychosis in a striking way. For the first time, this collection brings multiple disciplinary, clinical and experiential perspectives to bear on an original and extraordinarily rich body of testimony: transcripts of forty in-depth phenomenological interviews conducted with people who hear voices and who have accessed Early Intervention in Psychosis services. Voice-hearing experiences associated with psychosis are highly varied, frequently distressing, poorly understood, and deeply stigmatized, even within mental health services. Voices in Psychosis responds to the urgent need for new ways of listening to and making sense of these experiences. The book addresses the social, clinical and research contexts in which the interviews took place, thoroughly investigating the embodied, multisensory, affective, linguistic, spatial, and relational qualities of voice-hearing experiences. The nature, politics, and consequences of these analytic endeavours is a focus of critical reflection throughout. This volume presents a collection of essays by members and associates of the Hearing the Voice project that were written in response to the transcripts. Each chapter gives a multifaceted insight into the experiences of voice-hearers in the North East of England and to their wider resonance in contexts ranging from medieval mysticism to Amazonian shamanism, from the nineteenth-century novel to the twenty-first-century survivor movement