Asynchronous displays for multi-UV search tasks

Synchronous video has long been the preferred mode for controlling remote robots with other modes such as asynchronous control only used when unavoidable as in the case of interplanetary robotics. We identify two basic problems for controlling multiple robots using synchronous displays: operator overload and information fusion. Synchronous displays from multiple robots can easily overwhelm an operator who must search video for targets. If targets are plentiful, the operator will likely miss targets that enter and leave unattended views while dealing with others that were noticed. The related fusion problem arises because robots' multiple fields of view may overlap forcing the operator to reconcile different views from different perspectives and form an awareness of the environment by "piecing them together". We have conducted a series of experiments investigating the suitability of asynchronous displays for multi-UV search. Our first experiments involved static panoramas in which operators selected locations at which robots halted and panned their camera to capture a record of what could be seen from that location. A subsequent experiment investigated the hypothesis that the relative performance of the panoramic display would improve as the number of robots was increased causing greater overload and fusion problems. In a subsequent Image Queue system we used automated path planning and also automated the selection of imagery for presentation by choosing a greedy selection of non-overlapping views. A fourth set of experiments used the SUAVE display, an asynchronous variant of the picture-in-picture technique for video from multiple UAVs. The panoramic displays which addressed only the overload problem led to performance similar to synchronous video while the Image Queue and SUAVE displays which addressed fusion as well led to improved performance on a number of measures. In this paper we will review our experiences in designing and testing asynchronous displays and discuss challenges to their use including tracking dynamic targets. © 2012 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc

A social licence for the sharing economy

© 2019 Elsevier Inc. The emergence of community concerns around a range of sharing economy platforms have led to calls for more research into the so-called “dark side” of the sharing economy, including the development and application of analytical frameworks. In this article, we present one such framework based around social licence to operate (SLO), a concept that has been applied most extensively in the mining, forestry and energy sectors. We argue that, despite requiring some adaptations and refinements for application to the sharing economy context, social licence is a relevant and suitable concept for analysing community acceptance of sharing economy platforms and provides an opportunity for mutual learning between different sectors. We present a Sharing Economy SLO Framework and outline a research agenda that includes defining communities of interest and place that are affected by sharing economy practices, analysing the complex relationships between social acceptance and regulatory requirements, identifying and measuring key variables that determine SLO, and developing strategies for building and maintaining SLO for sharing economy practices

Genetics of developmental dyslexia

Developmental dyslexia is a highly heritable disorder with a prevalence of at least 5% in school-aged children. Linkage studies have identified numerous loci throughout the genome that are likely to harbour candidate dyslexia susceptibility genes. Association studies and the refinement of chromosomal translocation break points in individuals with dyslexia have resulted in the discovery of candidate genes at some of these loci. A key function of many of these genes is their involvement in neuronal migration. This complements anatomical abnormalities discovered in dyslexic brains, such as ectopias, that may be the result of irregular neuronal migration

Dynamic Capability Building through partnering: An Australian Mobile handset case Study

Dynamic capabilities are increasingly seen as an organisational characteristic for innovation and are regarded as a source of competitive advantage. In a quest for sustainability, service organisations are partnering with their stakeholders, and subsequently are aptly bringing innovation in services to market. Most of existing empirical research regarding dynamic capabilities seeks to define and identify specific dynamic capabilities, as well as their organizational antecedents or effects. Yet, the extent to which the antecedents of success in particular dynamic capabilities, contribute to innovation in service organisations remains less researched. This study advances the understanding of such dynamic capability building process through effective collaboration, and highlights the detailed mechanisms and processes of capability building within a service value network framework to deliver innovation in services. Deploying a case study methodology, transcribing interviews with managers and staff from an Australian telco and its partnering organisations, results show that collaboration, collaborative organisational learning, collaborative innovative capacity, entrepreneurial alertness and collaborative agility are all core to fostering innovation in services. Practical implications of this research are significant, and that the impacts of collaboration and the dynamic capabilities mentioned above are discussed in the context of a mobile handset case study

An architecture for modular distributed simulation with agent-based models

Agent-based simulations are an increasingly popular means of exploring and understanding complex social systems. In order to be useful, these simulations must capture a range of aspects of the modeled situation, each possibly requiring distinct expertise. Moreover, different paradigms may be useful in modelling, ranging from those that use many lightweight reactive agents, to those that use cognitive agents, to those that focus on agent teams and organisational structures. There is need for an architecture which supports the development of a large simulation, through the integration of separately developed modules. This paper describes a framework and architecture which facilitates the integration of multiple agent-based simulations into a single global simulation. This architecture naturally supports distributed simulation and incremental development, which are ways of addressing the computational and conceptual complexity of such systems. In this paper we focus particularly on how to ensure proper management of simulation data that is affected by agents in different modules, at the same logical time. We also provide some preliminary performance evaluation addressing scalability, as well as a comparison of how other available systems handle the issue of shared data

Tropical forests in the deep human past

Since Darwin, studies of human evolution have tended to give primacy to open ‘savannah’ environments as the ecological cradle of our lineage, with dense tropical forests cast as hostile, unfavourable frontiers. These perceptions continue to shape both the geographical context of fieldwork as well as dominant narratives concerning hominin evolution. This paradigm persists despite new, ground-breaking research highlighting the role of tropical forests in the human story. For example, novel research in Africa's rainforests has uncovered archaeological sites dating back into the Pleistocene; genetic studies have revealed very deep human roots in Central and West Africa and in the tropics of Asia and the Pacific; an unprecedented number of coexistent hominin species have now been documented, including Homo erectus, the ‘Hobbit’ (Homo floresiensis), Homo luzonensis, Denisovans, and Homo sapiens. Some of the earliest members of our own species to reach South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania and the tropical Americas have shown an unexpected rapidity in their adaptation to even some of the more ‘extreme’ tropical settings. This includes the early human manipulation of species and even habitats. This volume builds on these currently disparate threads and, for the first time, draws together a group of interdisciplinary, agenda-setting papers that firmly places a broader spectrum of tropical environments at the heart of the deep human past1. The tropics: a frontier for the deep human past 2. African tropical forests 3. Southeast Asian and pacific forests 4. Neotropical forests 5. Synthesi

Using appreciative inquiry to implement person-centred dementia care in hospital wards

The quality of care of persons with dementia in hospitals is not optimal and can be challenging. Moreover, staff may find difficulty in translating what they have learned during training into practice. This paper report the development and evaluation of a set of workshops using an Appreciative Inquiry (AI) approach to implement person-centred dementia care in two hospital wards. Staff worked collaboratively to develop a ward vision and to implement a number of action plans. Using AI approach, staff attitudes towards persons with dementia improved, inter-professional collaboration was enhanced and small changes in staff practices were noted. Dementia care in hospitals can be enhanced by empowering staff to take small but concrete actions after they engage in AI workshops, during which they are listened to and appreciated for what they can contribute

Uniformity and Diversity in Handaxe Shape at the End of the Acheulean in Southwest Asia

This study examines parameters, causes, and spatio-temporal patterns of handaxe shape variation from Tabun cave in the Levant, and Khall Amayshan 4B and Khabb Musayyib in northern Arabia. These assemblages span the range of most pointy to most rounded handaxes found anywhere during the Acheulean. The AGMT3D program is used to conduct high resolution geometric morphometric analysis of handaxe form from 3D models. Shape variation is tested against blank type, allometry, and reduction intensity. None of these factors appears to be a strong influence, but there are significant assemblage-wise differences in form, suggesting the different shapes were intentionally produced. The analysis quantifies a pattern of high diversity in the assemblages from Tabun versus low diversity in the shorter occupations at the Arabian sites. We suggest possible explanations of emerging specificity in utilitarian functions, as well as the manifestation of social identities in artefacts at the end of the Acheulean

Fundamental Limits to Coherent Photon Generation with Solid-State Atomlike Transitions

Coherent generation of indistinguishable single photons is crucial for many quantum communication and processing protocols. Solid-state realizations of two-level atomic transitions or three-level spin-$\Lambda$ systems offer significant advantages over their atomic counterparts for this purpose, albeit decoherence can arise due to environmental couplings. One popular approach to mitigate dephasing is to operate in the weak excitation limit, where excited state population is minimal and coherently scattered photons dominate over incoherent emission. Here we probe the coherence of photons produced using two-level and spin-$\Lambda$ solid-state systems. We observe that the coupling of the atomic-like transitions to the vibronic transitions of the crystal lattice is independent of driving strength and detuning. We apply a polaron master equation to capture the non-Markovian dynamics of the ground state vibrational manifolds. These results provide insight into the fundamental limitations for photon coherence from solid-state quantum emitters, with the consequence that deterministic single-shot quantum protocols are impossible and inherently probabilistic approaches must be embraced.Comment: 16 pages [with supplementary information], 8 figure