Reform and Adjustment in the European Union: The 2003 Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy and Enlargement

This paper aims at presenting the main findings of an impact analysis of the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy on the agricultural markets and income of the current and the enlarged European Union over the 2004-2010 period, with specific investigation of the impact of the single farm payment. This policy changes towards significantly less-trade distorting instruments should reduce the risk of structural surpluses. The market projections indicate that adjustment of production would take part in key areas of agricultural production in Europe (cereal, beef and dairy production) while keeping agricultural income little affected.Common Agricultural Policy, enlargement, decoupled payments, reform, Agricultural and Food Policy,

A method for the field assessment of rolling resistance properties of manual wheelchairs, Computer Methods in Biomechanics and Biomedical Engineering

This article presents an examination and validation of a method to measure the field deceleration of a manual wheelchair (MWC) and to calculate the rolling resistances properties of the front and rear wheels. This method was based on the measurements of the MWC deceleration for various load settings from a 3D accelerometer. A mechanical model of MWC deceleration was developed which allowed computing the rolling resistance factors of front and rear wheels on a tested surface. Four deceleration sets were conducted on two paths on the same ground to test the repeatability. Two other deceleration sets were conducted using different load settings to compute the rolling resistance parameters (RPs). The theoretical decelerations of three load settings were computed and compared with the measured decelerations. The results showed good repeatability (variations of measures represented 6–11% of the nominal values) and no statistical difference between the path results. The rolling RPs were computed and their confidence intervals were assessed. For the last three sets, no significant difference was found between the theoretical and measured decelerations. This method can determine the specific rolling resistance properties of the wheels of a MWC, and be employed to establish a catalogue of the rolling resistance properties of wheels on various surfaces.The authors would like to thank the French National Research Agency (ANR) for its financial support to the SACR-FRM project (ANR-06-TecSan-020) and to the CERAH for the loan of all the manual wheelchairs evaluated in this work

Assessment of field rolling resistance of manual wheelchairs

This article proposes a simple and convenient method for assessing the subject-specific rolling resistance acting on a manual wheelchair, which could be used during the provision of clinical service. This method, based on a simple mathematical equation, is sensitive to both the total mass and its fore-aft distribution, which changes with the subject, wheelchair properties, and adjustments. The rolling resistance properties of three types of front casters and four types of rear wheels were determined for two indoor surfaces commonly encountered by wheelchair users (a hard smooth surface and carpet) from measurements of a three-dimensional accelerometer during field deceleration tests performed with artificial load. The average results provided by these experiments were then used as input data to assess the rolling resistance from the mathematical equation with an acceptable accuracy on hard smooth and carpet surfaces (standard errors of the estimates were 4.4 and 3.9 N, respectively). Thus, this method can be confidently used by clinicians to help users make trade-offs between front and rear wheel types and sizes when choosing and adjusting their manual wheelchair.This material was based on work supported by the SACR-FRM project, French National Research Agency (ANR-06-TecSan-020) and the Centre d’Etudeset de Recherche sur l’Appareillage des Handicapés (loaned all MWCs required to fulfill this work

A Systematic Review of Studies on Educational Robotics

There has been a steady increase in the number of studies investigating educational robotics and its impact on academic and social skills of young learners. Educational robots are used both in and out of school environments to enhance K–12 students’ interest, engagement, and academic achievement in various fields of STEM education. Some prior studies show evidence for the general benefits of educational robotics as being effective in providing impactful learning experiences. However, there appears to be a need to determine the specific benefits which have been achieved through robotics implementation in K–12 formal and informal learning settings. In this study, we present a systematic review of the literature on K–12 educational robotics. Based on our review process with specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, and a repeatable method of systematic review, we found 147 studies published from the years 2000 to 2018. We classified these studies under five themes: (1) general effectiveness of educational robotics; (2) students’ learning and transfer skills; (3) creativity and motivation; (4) diversity and broadening participation; and (5) teachers’ professional development. The study outlines the research questions, presents the synthesis of literature, and discusses findings across themes. It also provides guidelines for educators, practitioners, and researchers in areas of educational robotics and STEM education, and presents dimensions of future research