A spatial impedance controller for robotic manipulation

Mechanical impedance is the dynamic generalization of stiffness, and determines interactive behavior by definition. Although the argument for explicitly controlling impedance is strong, impedance control has had only a modest impact on robotic manipulator control practice. This is due in part to the fact that it is difficult to select suitable impedances given tasks. A spatial impedance controller is presented that simplifies impedance selection. Impedance is characterized using ¿spatially affine¿ families of compliance and damping, which are characterized by nonspatial and spatial parameters. Nonspatial parameters are selected independently of configuration of the object with which the robot must interact. Spatial parameters depend on object configurations, but transform in an intuitive, well-defined way. Control laws corresponding to these compliance and damping families are derived assuming a commonly used robot model. While the compliance control law was implemented in simulation and on a real robot, this paper emphasizes the underlying theor

A Systematic Review of Rural Veteran Homelessness

This study is a systematic review to examine homeless veterans identified to be most at risk of unsuccessfully completing the VA’s housing program (HUD-VASH), which promotes the use of Housing First (HF) as it’s model for treating homelessness. The literature review identified those who were rural and experiencing comorbid substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health issues to likely be those who were most at risk. There were multiple reasons why this subgroup was most vulnerable including limited access to resources, higher levels of substance use and more serious mental health diagnoses, and chronic health needs. Both the literature review and systematic review in this study indicate a lack of evidence supporting Housing First especially its long-term effectiveness in the HUD-VASH program. The lack of evidence is due in part to the question of whether or not the programs examined in the literature are true HF models, which utilize all the core principles of HF. Further, the literature regarding HF predominantly measures the length of time to acquire permanent housing with little to no regard to harm reduction or rehabilitation of SUD and mental health needs. Further research is also needed to examine HUD-VASH effectiveness in treating rural veterans with comorbid SUD and mental health illnesses

Perceptions of, and attitudes towards, English teaching and learning in Cameroon’s technical education

This study examined the current practices, difficulties and impacts of English as second official language (ESOL) teaching and learning in secondary schools in Cameroon. It investigated the perceptions and attitudes of students, teachers and parents towards the teaching and learning of ESOL, including prevailing teaching and learning practices. This study stemmed from the observation that the exit profile of most students in technical secondary schools does not correspond to the official exit profile set out by the Ministry of Secondary Education (MINESEC). It was therefore necessary to survey students, parents, and teachers with the goal of identifying areas of concern and proposing remedial solutions. Responses of these key stakeholders selected in four education institutions (including two technical high schools and two general high schools) to questionnaires have provided data for the study. Such responses offered insights into the current situation in Cameroon’s ESOL, as well as into the possible utility of, and desire for, the development of ESOL courses aimed at students learning in technical schools. The inclusion and development of English for specific purposes (ESP) in Cameroon’s ESOL teaching and learning could help bring education stakeholders and policymakers closer to what they want to see from the country’s ESOL program

Effects of different fertilizers on methane emission from paddy field of Zhejiang, China

No Abstract

Probe! – Praxislabors für kreative Lernwege. Ein Konzept für offene Lernprozesse in heterogenen Lerngruppen

Der vorliegende Artikel stellt das Format von „PROBE! – Praxislabors für kreative Lernwege“ vor, das ausgehend von Projekten im vielsprachigen Subsahara-Afrika entwickelt wurde. Beispielhaft wird eines dieser Projekte beschrieben. Erfahrene Pädagogen bilden die „PROBE!“-Teams und führen in Workshops – den Praxislabors – Theater- und Spracharbeit zusammen. In heterogenen Lerngruppen nutzen die „Probe!“-Teams die Kreativität von Kindern und Jugendlichen in künstlerischen Arbeitsprozessen. Theatrale Verfahren werden dabei verbunden mit Ansätzen aus der Mehrsprachigkeitsdidaktik, mit Körperarbeit und Kommunikationstraining. Den Teilnehmer/innen wird so die Gelegenheit gegeben, ihre sprachliche und kulturelle Identität zu erforschen, sie wechselseitig anzuerkennen und eigene sprachliche, soziale und arbeitstechnische Kompetenzen weiter auszubilden. Alle Workshops schließen mit einer Präsentation ab, die jedoch nicht das alleinige Ziel ist: vielmehr intensivieren die Teilnehmer/innen im Arbeitsprozess ihre Fähigkeit des präzisen Beobachtens, sie entwickeln eigene Notationssysteme und können so ihre Sicht auf Arbeitsverfahren und Ergebnis formulieren. Auf der Grundlage des jeweils eigenen Zugangs werden Inhalte aus Spracharbeit, Literatur und individuellen Lebensgeschichten der Teilnehmenden aus einer neuen Perspektive sichtbar und erfolgreich bearbeitet

Im Zeichen des "Tankdrachen"

Gegenstand der vorliegenden Dissertationsschrift ist das zumeist als Revolution of Military Affairs wahrgenommene Auftreten der ersten Panzer. Diese „Tanks“ der Jahre 1916-1918 mit den ihnen innewohnenden Möglichkeiten, das blutige Patt des Stellungskrieges an der Westfront aufzuheben, beeinflußten der Legende nach das Kriegsende 1918 erheblich. Die Alliierten erkannten das Potential der neuen Waffe, ließen sich von frühen Rückschlägen nicht entmutigen und besaßen gegen Ende des Krieges eine gepanzerte Speerspitze ihrer nun modern auf Feuer und Bewegung ausgelegten Offensiven, denen man deutscherseits angeblich nichts entgegenzusetzen hatte. Die deutsche Führung, anscheinend geprägt durch technikfeindliche und geradezu blauäugig agierende Köpfe, verpaßte bis zuletzt ignorant jede Chance, ihrerseits auf diese die Landkriegführung bis heute prägende Waffe zu setzen und selbst Tanks in Massen zu produzieren. Im Sommer 1918 kollabierten die deutschen Linien, als britische, französische und amerikanische Tankgeschwader unaufhaltsam auf sie und ihre technisch und taktisch plötzlich hoffnungslos unterlegenen Verteidiger einstürmten. Inwieweit diese plausibel erscheinende Darstellung den Realitäten in höchsten Führungskreisen beider Seiten und auf den Gefechtsfeldern entsprach, ist eine grundsätzliche Frage innerhalb der vorliegenden Dissertation. Anhand der operationsgeschichtlichen Untersuchung der namhaftesten Tankeinsätze zwischen dem ersten Auftreten der neuen Waffe im September 1916 und ihrem Siegeslauf im Sommer 1918 wird geklärt, welcher Anteil am alliierten Sieg den frühen Panzern zuzubilligen ist und inwiefern sich die deutsche Führung tatsächlich eines letztlich katastrophalen „Versagens“ schuldig machte.The central theme of this thesis is the appearance on the battlefield of the first armoured vehicles, an event generally held to have been a revolution in military affairs. The exploits of these so-called ‘tanks’ of 1916 -1918, which had the inherent capability of breaking the bloody deadlock of trench warfare, contributed greatly during the interwar period to the promotion of a myth, which went roughly as follows: The Allies had recognised the potential of this new weapon; did not allow themselves to be deflected by early setbacks and so, towards the end of the war, their modern offensives, founded on the joint principles of fire and manoeuvre, possessed an armoured spearhead, against which the Germans had no answer. The German High Command, seemingly technophobic and blundering, ignored right to the bitter end, the chance to throw their weight behind the development and mass production of weapons, which to this day play a key role in land warfare. In the summer of 1918 the German lines simply folded in the face of British, French and American tank squadrons which rolled forward unstoppably to assault a defence which was suddenly and hopelessly tactically and technically inferior. The fundamental question of this thesis is to what extent this apparently plausible representation of the facts actually corresponds to the reality, both in the High Commands of both sides and on the battlefield. On the basis of historical-operational analysis of the most notable tank actions between the first appearance of the new weapon in September 1916 and its advance to victory during the summer of 1918, the thesis explores how much credit for the Allied victory is due to these early armoured vehicles and to what extent the German High Command itself was actually responsible for this final, catastrophic failure

Non-traditional students: Recruitment strategies and their effectiveness

In recent years, there has been considerable change in the student population in postsecondary education. At one time, a college campus consisted primarily of students who were 18 to 22 years of age. A decline in this population has been occurring for several years and is predicted to continue. There will simply be fewer youngsters coming through grade school and high school in the 1990\u27s. They have already been born (Hruby, 1984, p.4). At the same time, the number of older, non-traditional students has been increasing on college campuses. According to Brodzinski (1980), the number of students who were at least 35 years old increased-more than 66% between 1972 and 1978. Haponski (1983)·noted that (a)dults constituted 37.5%of the total college enrollment in 1978 and are expected to constitute 47% by 1990 (p. 1)

Food Security and the Dynamics of Wheat and Maize Value Chains in Africa and Asia

There is an ongoing debate about how best to feed the growing world population in the long run and associated implications for research and development. Some call for a new Green Revolution to secure the supply of staple foods, whereas others emphasize the importance of diversifying and improving people's diets. We aim to contribute to this debate by reviewing the case of wheat and maize value chains and their contribution to food security in Africa and Asia. We first identify drivers transforming food systems. We then apply these to the cereal value chains and disentangle their effects on food security. We thereby add to the three strands in the literature around production, consumption, and food system transformation and point to different research needs and recommendations for the future. The review highlights: (1) Wheat and maize production will be increasingly impaired by ecological drivers such as land degradation, water scarcity and climate change. (2) There are promising innovations to increase and maintain productivity, but constraints in adopting these innovations have to be overcome (i.e., access to seeds, finance, and education/training). (3) The drivers affect all four dimensions of food security, but first and foremost they determine the availability and stability of maize and wheat. This indirectly also influences the economic and physical access of people to maize and wheat. (4) Research tends to focus on improving the productivity and sustainability of wheat and maize farming which is largely interlinked with the availability dimension of food security. (5) The stability and utilization dimension of food security merits continued yet increased support. First, to address climate change and implications for biotic and abiotic stresses. Second, to promote healthier diets and enable the equitable transformation of food systems. © Copyright © 2021 Grote, Fasse, Nguyen and Erenstein

In Vitro Analysis of the Anti-inflammatory Activity in Dairy Products Containing Salicornia Europaea

Novel solutions for ensuring food security have to be established in the context of a growing world population, and rising climate restrictions on agriculture and agriculturally usable lands. Simultaneously, there is a rising demand for healthy functional foods in today’s world population. Edible halophytes could be part of the solution, as they are capable to grow in saline environments and contain several bioactive compounds. The exploitation of these salt-tolerant plants in the formulation of novel functional dairy products is demonstrated. Therefore, the focus of this research is on the development of suited dairy products with the addition of different concentrations of Salicornia europaea biomass, while measuring the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity with the egg albumin denaturation method. The inhibition of protein denaturation observed is equivalent to the anti-inflammatory capabilities of the steroid reference drug hydrocortisone. Therefore, these initial results indicate that the formulation of cream cheese products with the addition of S. europaea biomass can be achieved

Ouverture à l’anthropologie et articulation à une démarche clinique d’orientation psychanalytique en sciences de l’éducation

L’article se propose de montrer de quelle façon l’ouverture à l’anthropologie peut constituer un outil pertinent dans un cursus de sciences de l’éducation et pour la formation des enseignants et enseignantes et, au-delà, de tous les métiers dits « du lien ». Les deux auteures, enseignante-chercheuse en sciences de l’éducation et formatrice d’enseignant-e-s, inscrivent leurs travaux dans une démarche clinique d’orientation psychanalytique attachée à la compréhension de la singularité des psychismes. Dans ce cadre, une ouverture à l’anthropologie permet de prendre en compte les grandes questions humaines auxquelles les sujets doivent se confronter et de repérer les étayages que les différentes sociétés peuvent leur apporter. En ce sens, elle constitue un précieux outil de professionnalisation en aidant les étudiant-e-s à mettre en perspective leurs propres pratiques avec, d’une part leur histoire personnelle, d’autre part de grandes thématiques humaines telles que la transmission, les rituels, le don et le contre-don, la filiation et l’affiliation, etc. L’idée que certaines fonctions doivent être assurées dans toute société aide à repérer en quoi certains métiers répondent à des questions qui peuvent être, le cas échéant, régulées différemment. Des exemples sont donnés de dispositifs formatifs mis en place aux différents niveaux d’un cursus de sciences de l’éducation ou en formation initiale d’enseignants et d’enseignantes, où l’accent est mis sur l’écriture comme modalité formative, en tant qu’elle répond à certaines exigences des rites de passage (franchissement de seuils, élaboration de l’expérience, dimension de marquage, etc.).This article shows how an openness to anthropology can be a relevant tool in an education sciences curriculum and in teacher training, and, beyond that, all the so-called « social » professions. The two authors, a university lecturer in the education sciences and a teacher trainer, situate their work in a psychoanalytically-oriented clinical approach concerned with understanding the psyche’s singularity. In this framework, an openness to anthropology makes it possible to take into account the major human issues which subjects must confront and to identify the underpinnings that different societies can bring to them. In this sense, it constitutes a valuable tool in the professionalization of students by helping them to compare their own practices with, on the one hand, their personal history, and, on the other, major human themes such as transmission, rituals, gifts and counter-gifts, filiation and affiliation, etc. The idea that certain functions must be assured in every society helps to identify how certain professions respond to questions which can, if the need arises, be regulated differently. Examples are given of training devices used at different levels of an education sciences curriculum or in initial teacher training, where the emphasis is placed on writing as a mode of training, in as much as it responds to certain requirements of rites of passage (the crossing of thresholds, the elaboration of experience, the dimension of marking, etc.