21 research outputs found
Automated Retrieval of Non-Engineering Domain Solutions to Engineering Problems
Organised by: Cranfield UniversityBiological inspiration for engineering design has occurred through a variety of techniques such as creation
and use of databases, keyword searches of biological information in natural-language format, prior
knowledge of biology, and chance observations of nature. This research focuses on utilizing the reconciled
Functional Basis function and flow terms to identify suitable biological inspiration for function based design.
The organized search provides two levels of results: (1) associated with verb function only and (2) narrowed
results associated with verb-noun (function-flow). A set of heuristics has been complied to promote efficient
searching using this technique. An example for creating smart flooring is also presented and discussed.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan
McMurdo Dry Valleys, Antarctica - A Mars Phoenix Mission Analog
The Phoenix mission (PHX; May 25 - Nov. 2, 2008) studied the north polar region of Mars (68deg N) to understand the history of water and potential for habitability. Phoenix carried with it a wet chemistry lab (WCL) capable of determining the basic solution chemistry of the soil and the pH value, a thermal and evolved-gas analyzer capable of determining the mineralogy of the soil and detecting ice, microscopes capable of seeing soil particle shapes, sizes and colors at very high resolution, and a soil probe (TECP) capable of detecting unfrozen water in the soil. PHX coincided with an international effort to study the Earth s polar regions named the International Polar Year (IPY; 2007-2008). The best known Earth analog to the Martian high-northern plains, where Phoenix landed, are the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica (Fig. 1). Thus, the IPY afforded a unique opportunity to study the MDV with the same foci - history of water and habitability - as PHX. In austral summer 2007, our team took engineering models of WCL and TECP into the MDV and performed analgous measurements. We also collected sterile samples and analyzed them in our home laboratories using state-of-the-art tools. While PHX was not designed to perform biologic analyses, we were able to do so with the MDV analog samples collected
Effects of parental imprisonment on child antisocial behaviour and mental health: a systematic review
Parental imprisonment can cause many problems for the family left behind,
including difficulty organising childcare, loss of family income, trouble maintaining
contact with the imprisoned parent, stigma, and home, school and neighbourhood
moves. Children and parents can be distressed by the separation. Children may
respond by acting out or becoming withdrawn, anxious or depressed. We conducted
an exhaustive search for studies that examined children's antisocial behaviour and
mental health after parental imprisonment. We found 16 studies with appropriate
evidence. These studies all showed that children of prisoners are more likely than
other children to show antisocial and mental health problems. However, it was
unclear whether parental imprisonment actually caused these problems. They might
have been caused by other disadvantages in children's lives that existed before
parental imprisonment occurred. Children of prisoners are a vulnerable group. More
research is required to determine whether or not parental imprisonment causes an
increase in child antisocial behaviour and mental health problems
An Engineering-to-Biology Thesaurus To Promote Better Collaboration, Creativity and Discovery
Organised by: Cranfield UniversityBiological inspiration for engineering design has occurred through a variety of techniques such as database
searches, keyword and antonym searches, knowledge of biology, observations of nature and other “aha”
moments. This research aims to alleviate the knowledge gap problem by providing a link between
engineering and biology with a thesaurus. The biologically connotative terms that comprise the thesaurus
were collected utilizing an organized verb-noun search; collocated words were extracted from texts based
on a functional search word. This thesaurus should enable the engineering and biology communities to
better collaborate, create and discover.Mori Seiki – The Machine Tool Compan