A Universalist strategy for the design of Assistive Technology

Assistive Technologies are specialized products aiming to partly compensate for the loss of autonomy experienced by disabled people. Because they address special needs in a highly-segmented market, they are often considered as niche products. To improve their design and make them tend to Universality, we propose the EMFASIS framework (Extended Modularity, Functional Accessibility, and Social Integration Strategy). We first elaborate on how this strategy conciliates niche and Universalist views, which may appear conflicting at first sight. We then present three examples illustrating its application for designing Assistive Technologies: the design of an overbed table, an upper-limb powered orthose and a powered wheelchair. We conclude on the expected outcomes of our strategy for the social integration and participation of disabled people

Time in the ontology of Cornelius Castoriadis

We can locate the problematic of time within three philosophical questions, which respectively designate three central areas of philosophical reflection and contemplation. These are: 1) The ontological question, i.e. 'what is being?' 2) The epistemological question, i.e. 'what can we know with certainty?' 3) The existential question, i.e. 'what is the meaning of existence?' These three questions, which are philosophical, but also scientific and political, as they underline the political and moral question of truth and justice, arise from the phenomenon of time, the irreversible constant flow of phenomena that undermines every claim to absolute knowledge. The purpose of this essay is to illuminate the importance of time for philosophical thought and, more generally, for human social and psychical life, in the context of the ontology of Cornelius Castoriadis. Castoriadis, who asserted that " being is time – and not in the horizon of time " , correlated history to society and being to temporality within the social-historical stratum, the ontological plane created by human existence, where " existence is signification ". Time is interpreted as the creation and destruction of forms in a magmatic, layered with a non-regular stratification, reality, where the social-historical manifests as the creation of collective human activity, in the manner of social imaginary significations. This notion of temporality is accompanied by a profound criticism of traditional rationalistic philosophy, to which Castoriadis assigns the name 'ensemblistic/identitary', that highlights the necessity of a new, magmatic ontology, based on the primacy of time

Advanced transport operating system software upgrade: Flight management/flight controls software description

The Flight Management/Flight Controls (FM/FC) software for the Norden 2 (PDP-11/70M) computer installed on the NASA 737 aircraft is described. The software computes the navigation position estimates, guidance commands, those commands to be issued to the control surfaces to direct the aircraft in flight based on the modes selected on the Advanced Guidance Control System (AGSC) mode panel, and the flight path selected via the Navigation Control/Display Unit (NCDU)

Unraveling the mysteries of China's foreign trade regime : a view from Jiangsu Province

This paper provides an analytic discussion of China's complex foreign trade regime and suggests policy reforms. The paper pays special attention to the implementation of national trade policies at provincial and city levels. This is important for understanding developments in China's external sector because, during the 1980s, provinces began to enjoy a high degree of autonomy. The author draws specific examples at provincial and city levels form Jiangsu Province and Wuxi City. Jiangsu is one of the fastest growing provinces in China; it has also experienced a rapid growth in exports during the past 10 years. The paper provides a brief history of the developments in China's foreign trade regime. It discusses the major institutions responsible for China's foreign trade and outlines trade policies.National Governance,Economic Theory&Research,TF054105-DONOR FUNDED OPERATION ADMINISTRATION FEE INCOME AND EXPENSE ACCOUNT,Environmental Economics&Policies,Trade Policy

Southeast Asian Macroeconomic Management: Pragmatic Orthodoxy?

This article provides an introductory analytical survey of macroeconomic policies andoutcomes in seven Southeast Asian economies, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, ThePhilippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It draws on the framework proposed byCorden (1996) to explain the generally good macroeconomic outcomes in the earlierWorld Bank study of the East Asian ‘miracle economies'. The main conclusion is that,notwithstanding the institutional and economic diversity of the seven, macroeconomicoutcomes have generally been good. However, there are some notable exceptions tothis generalization, and the unfinished reform agenda is substantial in some countrie