Family adaptation and developmental disability

This project compared the effects of a family behavioural intervention on measures of family adaptation for parents of children with developmental disabilities. Different structural versions of a Double ABCX model of family adaptation were then tested. Significant, large intervention effects were found for parenting and child behavior, but not for other variables. Structural equation modelling supported a theoretically plausible additive version of the Double ABCX model. Theoretical and applied implications of the research are discussed

Stepping Stones Triple P: The theoretical basis and development of an evidence-based positive parenting program for families with a child who has a disability.

Stepping Stones Triple P is the first in a series of programs based on the Triple P – Positive Parenting Program that has been specifically designed for families who have a child with a disability. This paper presents the rationale, theoretical foundations, historical development and distinguishing features of the program. The multi-level intervention adopts a self-regulation framework in consulting with parents that involves the promotion of parental self-sufficiency, selfefficacy, self-management skills, personal agency and problem-solving skills. This paper describes the key program design features, intervention techniques, model of clinical consultation, its clinical applicability, and empirical base. The 10-session individually administered version of the program, known as Standard Stepping Stones Triple P is described and the important role of training, supervision and agency support in disseminating the program is discussed

Development of engineering design tools to help reduce apple bruising

A large percentage of apples are wasted each year due to damage such as bruising. The apple journey from orchard to supermarket is very complex and apples are subjected to a variety of static and dynamic loads that could result in this damage occurring. The main aim of this work was to carry out numerical modelling to develop a design tool that can be used to optimise the design of harvesting and sorting equipment and packaging media to reduce the likelihood of apple bruise formation resulting from impact loads. An experimental study, along with analytical calculations, varying apple drop heights and counterface material properties, were used to provide data to validate the numerical modelling. Good correlation was seen between the models and experiments and this approach combined with previous work on static modelling should provide a comprehensive design tool for reducing the likelihood of apple bruising occurring

Characterising pressure and bruising in apple fruit

A large percentage of apples are wasted each year due to damage such as bruising. The apple journey from orchard to supermarket is very complex and apples are subjected to a variety of static and dynamic loads that could result in this damage occurring. The aim of this work was to use a novel ultrasonic technique to study apple contact areas and stresses under static loading that may occur, for example, in bulk storage bins used during harvesting. These results were used to identify load thresholds above which unacceptable damage occurs. They were also used to validate output from a finite element model, which will ultimately be developed into a packaging design tool to help reduce the likelihood of apple damage occurring

Stress-strain curves and derived mechanical parameters of P91 steel from spherical nanoindentation at a range of temperatures

Nanoindentation allows extracting local mechanical properties out of small regions of interest, such as welds, coatings or ion-irradiated layers. Probing the surface with spherical tips combined with several data analysis procedures allows deriving the complete elastic-plastic behaviour of the material under test, from the initial elastic response during loading, to the onset of plasticity and the post-yield behaviour. This works aims at comparing different measurement and analysis protocols to spherical nanoindentation tests performed at different temperatures on a ferritic/martensitic P91 grade steel, in order to derive meaningful indentation stress−strain curves (ISSC) and estimate parameters such as indentation modulus, yield strength, work hardening exponent and ultimate tensile strength. Indentations using spherical indenters have been carried out from room temperature to 600°C in vacuum in a set-up where thermal drift has been minimised by an active surface referencing system and an accurate temperature stabilisation in the contact area. To evaluate indentation tensile properties from nanoindentation results, the determination of the contact area, the definition of representative stress and strain, and the fitting to constitutive equations are the important steps, the most adequate choice of which is still matter of discussion and may depend on the instrument, material analysed and testing procedure. In the present work it is shown that the methodology used to determine the radius of the contact is critical to achieve consistent results. The geometrical definition of the contact radius provides a consistent shape of the ISSC; however it requires a good calibration of the true indenter radius as a function of depth. On the other hand, the Hertz model for the contact radius is very sensitive to the measurement of stiffness and presumes that the elastic modulus of the material is known or derived form the initial loading. The application of the different combinations of contact radius and strain definitions to nanoindentation data obtained by multi-cycle and continuous stiffness measurements revealed that Tabor’s approach combined with geometrically determined radius best represented the ISSC relationship for the P91 characterized. This method was then extended to predict the high temperature tensile properties of the steel. The results of the nanoindentation characterization will be presented and discussed thereby comparing the performance of different measurement and analysis protocols. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Behavioral family intervention for children with developmental disabilities and behavioral problems

The outcomes of a randomized clinical trial of a new behavioral family intervention, Stepping Stones Triple P, for preschoolers with developmental and behavior problems are presented. Forty-eight children with developmental disabilities participated, 27 randomly allocated to an intervention group and 20 to a wait-list control group. Parents completed measures of parenting style and stress, and independent observers assessed parent-child interactions. The intervention was associated with fewer child behavior problems reported by mothers and independent observers, improved maternal and paternal parenting style, and decreased maternal stress. All effects were maintained at 6-month follow-up

Non-destructive technologies for fruit and vegetable size determination - a review

Here, we review different methods for non-destructive horticultural produce size determination, focusing on electronic technologies capable of measuring fruit volume. The usefulness of produce size estimation is justified and a comprehensive classification system of the existing electronic techniques to determine dimensional size is proposed. The different systems identified are compared in terms of their versatility, precision and throughput. There is general agreement in considering that online measurement of axes, perimeter and projected area has now been achieved. Nevertheless, rapid and accurate volume determination of irregular-shaped produce, as needed for density sorting, has only become available in the past few years. An important application of density measurement is soluble solids content (SSC) sorting. If the range of SSC in the batch is narrow and a large number of classes are desired, accurate volume determination becomes important. A good alternative for fruit three-dimensional surface reconstruction, from which volume and surface area can be computed, is the combination of height profiles from a range sensor with a two-dimensional object image boundary from a solid-state camera (brightness image) or from the range sensor itself (intensity image). However, one of the most promising technologies in this field is 3-D multispectral scanning, which combines multispectral data with 3-D surface reconstructio

Review. Technologies for robot grippers in pick and place operations for fresh fruits and vegetables

[EN] Robotics has been introduced in industry to replace humans in arduous and repetitive tasks, to reduce labour costs and to ensure consistent quality control of the process. Nowadays robots are cheaper, can work in hostile and dirty environments and they are able to manipulate products at high speed. High speed and reliability and low robot gripper costs are necessary for a profitable pick and place (P&P) process. However, current grippers are not able to handle these products properly because they have uneven shapes, are flexible and irregular, have different textures and are very sensitive to being damaged. This review brings together the requirements and phases used in the process of manipulation, summarises and analyses of the existing, potential and emerging techniques and their possibilities for the manipulation of fresh horticultural products from a detailed study of their characteristics. It considers the difficulties and the lack of engineers to conceive of and implement solutions. Contact grippers with underactuated mechanism and suction cups could be a promising approach for the manipulation of fresh fruit and vegetables. Ongoing study is still necessary on the characteristics and handling requirements of fresh fruit and vegetables in order to design grippers which are suitable for correct manipulation, at high speed, in profitable P&P processes for industrial applications.This work has been partially funded by research project with reference DPI2010-20286 financed by the Spanish Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion.Blanes Campos, C.; Mellado Arteche, M.; Ortiz Sánchez, MC.; Valera Fernández, Á. (2011). Review. Technologies for robot grippers in pick and place operations for fresh fruits and vegetables. SPANISH JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH. 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