Autonomous mobile materials handling platform architecture for mass customisation.

Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.In order to facilitate the materials handling requirements of production structures configured for Mass Customisation Manufacturing, the design of requisite materials handling and routing systems must encompass new conceptual properties. Materials handling and routing systems with the capacity to support higher-level management systems would allow for mediated task allocation and structured vertical integration of these systems into existing manufacturing execution and management systems. Thus, a global objective in designing a materials handling and routing system, for such production configurations. is to provide a flexible system mechanism with minimal policy on system usage. With the recent developments in mobile robot technologies, due to various advancements in embedded system, computational, and communication infrastructures, mobile robot platforms can be developed that are robust and reliable, with operating structures incorporating bounded autonomy. With the addition of materials handling hardware, autonomous agent architectures, structured communication protocols and robotic software systems, these mobile robot platforms can provide viable solution mechanisms in realising real-time flexible materials handling in production environments facilitating Mass Customisation Manufacturing. This dissertation covers the research and development of a materials handling and routing system implementation architecture, for production environments facilitating Mass Customisation Manufacturing. The materials handling and routing task environment in such production structures is characterised in order to provide a well defined problem space for research purposes. A physical instance of a functional subset of the architecture is constructed consisting of a semi-autonomous mobile robot platform equipped with the infrastructure for materials handling and routing task execution. The architecture orientates the mobile robot platform in such a way as to present a collection of functional units, integrated and configured for a range of applications, and prevents viewpoints in the sense of monolithic mobile robots less susceptible to reconfiguration and stochastic utilisation

An international survey of mature students' uses of mobile devices in life and learning

The paper presents research concerned with learner-driven innovative practice with mobile technologies and the interface between formal and informal learning. We build on our previous work investigating student use of personal devices for learning, work, social interaction and entertainment. A recent phase of the research included an international survey focusing on students registered on selected Masters and doctoral programmes in the UK, Sweden, Portugal, Hong Kong and Australia. The research gives an account of everyday uses and more unusual deployments of personal technologies by students from departments of education and technology. It illuminates learner choices and preferences, attitudes towards work–life boundaries, evolving social and cultural practices, and the impacts of technological change

TESTING FLEXIBLE GRIPPERS FOR GEOMETRIC AND SURFACE GRASPING CONFORMITY IN RECONFIGURABLE ASSEMBLY SYSTEMS

The ongoing development in manufacturing technology facilitates flexibility in production and faces challenges of product handling. Flexibility was required in the form of adaptable grippers for robotic arms in pick-and-place procedures for reconfigurable assembly systems. A conceptual system was designed and tested according to the surface geometric conformity of grasped objects. The system proposed was a biologically inspired Fin Ray Effect® gripper. Grasping occurs due to the deformation of the rib structure of the appendage. The appendages were simulated for conformity by means of a finite element analysis, and performance was analysed by means of a physical sample mass test and a force test

Mature students using mobile devices in life and learning

The paper reports on research concerned with learners’ uses of mobile technologies based on an international survey that targeted students registered in selected master’s and doctoral programmes in Australia, Hong Kong, Portugal, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. The survey findings were enriched by local knowledge, as the authors administered questionnaires in their own countries. The research gives an account of uses of handheld devices by students from departments of education, educational technology, engineering, and information technology in the domains of learning, work, social interaction and entertainment. The paper illuminates learners’ choices in the midst of evolving social practices, and challenges the common preconception that mobile devices are not suitable for academic study. In today’s global education marketplace, educators must know the technology habits and expectations of their students, including those from other countries. Knowing about students’ previous practices and the techno-cultural setting they come from can help institutions determine what mobile applications are most appropriate to support learning

The emotional context of self-management in chronic illness: a qualitative study of the role of health professionals support in the self-management of type 2 diabetes

© 2008 Furler et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Background Support for patient self-management is an accepted role for health professionals. Little evidence exists on the appropriate basis for the role of health professionals in achieving optimum self-management outcomes. This study explores the perceptions of people with type 2 diabetes about their self-management strategies and how relationships with health professionals may support this. Methods Four focus groups were conducted with people with type 2 diabetes: two with English-speaking and one each with Turkish and Arabic-speaking. Transcripts from the groups were analysed drawing on grounded hermeneutics and interpretive description. Results We describe three conceptually linked categories of text from the focus groups based on emotional context of self management, dominant approaches to self management and support from health professionals for self management. All groups described important emotional contexts to living with and self-managing diabetes and these linked closely with how they approached their diabetes management and what they looked for from health professionals. Culture seemed an important influence in shaping these linkages. Conclusion Our findings suggest people construct their own individual self-management and self-care program, springing from an important emotional base. This is shaped in part by culture and in turn determines the aims each person has in pursuing self-management strategies and the role they make available to health professionals to support them. While health professionals' support for self-care strategies will be more congruent with patients' expectations if they explore each person's social, emotional and cultural circumstances, pursuit of improved health outcomes may involve a careful balance between supporting as well as helping shift the emotional constructs surrounding a patient life with diabetes

APS Neutrino Study: Report of the Neutrino Astrophysics and Cosmology Working Group

In 2002, Ray Davis and Masatoshi Koshiba were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics ``for pioneering contributions to astrophysics, in particular for the detection of cosmic neutrinos.'' However, while astronomy has undergone a revolution in understanding by synthesizing data taken at many wavelengths, the universe has only barely been glimpsed in neutrinos, just the Sun and the nearby SN 1987A. An entire universe awaits, and since neutrinos can probe astrophysical objects at densities, energies, and distances that are otherwise inaccessible, the results are expected to be particularly exciting. Similarly, the revolution in quantitative cosmology has heightened the need for very precise tests that depend on the effects of neutrinos, and prominent among them is the search for the effects of neutrino mass, since neutrinos are a small but known component of the dark matter. In this report, we highlight some of the key opportunties for progress in neutrino astrophysics and cosmology, and the implications for other areas of physics

A comparison of HMGB1 concentrations between cerebrospinal fluid and blood in patients with neurological disease

AIMS: To determine whether a correlation exists between paired cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and serum levels of a novel inflammatory biomarker, high-mobility group box 1 (HMGB1), in different neurological conditions. METHODS: HMGB1 was measured in the serum and CSF of 46 neurological patients (18 idiopathic intracranial hypertension [IIH], 18 neurological infection/inflammation [NII] and 10 Rasmussen's encephalitis [RE]). RESULTS: Mean serum (± SD) HMGB1 levels were 1.43 ± 0.54, 25.28 ± 27.9 and 1.89 ± 1.49 ng/ml for the patients with IIH, NII and RE, respectively. Corresponding mean (± SD) CSF levels were 0.35 ± 0.22, 4.48 ± 6.56 and 2.24 ± 2.35 ng/ml. Both CSF and serum HMGB1 was elevated in NII. Elevated CSF HMGB1 was demonstrated in RE. There was no direct correlation between CSF and serum levels of HMGB1. CONCLUSION: Serum HMGB1 cannot be used as a surrogate measure for CSF levels. CSF HMGB1 was elevated in NII and RE, its role as a prognostic/stratification biomarker needs further study

Ethnic differences in the prevalence of inherited thrombophilic polymorphisms in an asymptomatic Australian prenatal population

Differences in the prevalence of thrombophilias in different ethnic populations have been demonstrated. Because the Australian population includes many different ethnic groups, we sought to assess the effect of ethnicity in our Australian prenatal population on the prevalence of thrombophilic polymorphisms. Asymptomatic, nulliparous women (n = 1,129) recruited for a large prospective study were included in this analysis. These women had no personal or family history of venous thromboembolism and were not known to be carrying an inherited or acquired thrombophilia. Ethnicity was determined at recruitment, and women were categorized as being of Northern European, Southern European, Middle Eastern, Asian, or Other ethnicity. These women underwent genotyping for the following polymorphisms: factor V Leiden G1691A, prothrombin gene A20210G mutation, methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) C677T and A1298C, and thrombomodulin C1418T. The factor V Leiden allele was seen significantly more frequently in patients of Middle Eastern background compared to those of Northern European and Asian ethnicity (p < 0.05). The prothrombin gene mutation was seen significantly more frequently in patients of Southern European ethnicity compared to those of Northern European or Asian ethnicity (p < 0.05). The MTHFR C677T allele (mutant) was significantly less common in those of Asian ethnicity compared to patients of Northern European and Southern European ethnicity (p < 0.0005). There were no significant differences seen with the MTHFR A1298C polymorphism. The mutant thrombomodulin allele was seen significantly more frequently in Asian women compared to Northern European, Southern European, or Middle Eastern women (p < 0.005). There are important ethnic differences in the prevalence of thrombophilic polymorphisms in the Australian prenatal population

Prospectus, May 6, 2009

https://spark.parkland.edu/prospectus_2009/1014/thumbnail.jp