scholarly journals Evolved Transistor Array Robot Controllers

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-708
Author(s):  
Michael Garvie ◽  
Ittai Flascher ◽  
Andrew Philippides ◽  
Adrian Thompson ◽  
Phil Husbands
Keyword(s):  
Analog Circuits ◽  
Uncertain Data ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Visually Guided ◽  
Feature Extraction And Selection ◽  
Voice Control ◽  
Field Programmable ◽  
Behavioural Switching ◽  
Control Circuits ◽  
First Time

For the first time, a field programmable transistor array (FPTA) was used to evolve robot control circuits directly in analog hardware. Controllers were successfully incrementally evolved for a physical robot engaged in a series of visually guided behaviours, including finding a target in a complex environment where the goal was hidden from most locations. Circuits for recognising spoken commands were also evolved and these were used in conjunction with the controllers to enable voice control of the robot, triggering behavioural switching. Poor quality visual sensors were deliberately used to test the ability of evolved analog circuits to deal with noisy uncertain data in realtime. Visual features were coevolved with the controllers to automatically achieve dimensionality reduction and feature extraction and selection in an integrated way. An efficient new method was developed for simulating the robot in its visual environment. This allowed controllers to be evaluated in a simulation connected to the FPTA. The controllers then transferred seamlessly to the real world. The circuit replication issue was also addressed in experiments where circuits were evolved to be able to function correctly in multiple areas of the FPTA. A methodology was developed to analyse the evolved circuits which provided insights into their operation. Comparative experiments demonstrated the superior evolvability of the transistor array medium.

scholarly journals Extrusion Processing of Amaranth and Quinoa into Gluten-Free Snack Foods for Celiac and Gluten-Free Diets

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 107
Author(s):  
Caitlin Gearhart ◽  
Kurt A. Rosentrater
Keyword(s):  
Scale Up ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Expansion Ratio ◽  
Gluten Free ◽  
Experimental Conditions ◽  
Snack Foods ◽  
Extrusion Processing ◽  
Nutritional Benefits ◽  
First Time

Because of the growth of gluten intolerance and Celiac disease, there is growing interest in development of gluten-free foods. Beyond just being gluten-free, such foods can also have other positive nutritional benefits to human health. Extrusion processing is commonly used to produce a wide variety of human food products. Gluten-free grains can be a processing challenge, however, due to lack of proper binding, which can lead to poor quality food products. This research explores how extrusion parameters impacted the quality of amaranth- and quinoa-based extrudates. The specific objectives of this project included extruding each of the grains, then measuring extrudate properties, such as color, unit density, expansion ratio, and durability. Both the quinoa and amaranth were extruded as raw grain, as well as ground to 2mm and 1mm particle sizes. Other experimental conditions included moisture contents of 20% and 40% (d.b.), and extruder screw speeds of 50 rpm and 100 rpm. All treatments were successfully extruded, and all extrudates had high quality attributes, making this the first time either quinoa or amaranth was extruded without any binding ingredients. This study provides information useful for commercial scale-up.

St. Cyprian and Moissac: A Thirteenth-Century Sequence

Traditio ◽  
1963 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 147-166
Author(s):  
Maurice Bévenot
Keyword(s):  
Thirteenth Century ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Full Length ◽  
The Poor ◽  
First Time ◽  
Special Notice ◽  
The Way

The discovery of an ancient sequence might not at first sight seem to deserve any special notice. No doubt its absence in the monumental collections of A. M. Dreves and C. Blume, and in U. J. Chevalier's Repertorium hymnologicum, may surprise us, but the poor quality of so many of the sequences there collected may justify an initial indifference to the unearthing of yet another. How was it missed by those indefatigable collectors? Perhaps the reason is that they confined themselves mainly to liturgical books whereas the sequence here presented for the first time is found in one single manuscript which is not a liturgical book but a collection of works by St. Cyprian. These had been transcribed round about the year 1100, and the sequence, words and music, was added to the beginning of the codex in the first part of the thirteenth century. That it was missed is, then, no surprise, but a full-length treatment seems to be called for, because of the light it throws on the history, both factual and literary, behind it, as also possibly on the music of the time and the way that a sequence was then constructed. At least some of its more interesting features can here be gathered together.

Effect of ISO 9001 non-conformity process on cost of poor quality in capital-intensive sectors

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 144-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Chiarini
Keyword(s):  
Poor Quality ◽  
Iso 9001 ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Total Cost ◽  
Periodic Maintenance ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
The Cost ◽  
First Time ◽  
Capital Intensive ◽  
Cost Of Poor Quality

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there are differences in terms of the effect of the ISO 9001 non-conformity process on the cost of poor quality in different sectors. In particular, to investigate the effect on six sectors of companies which manufacture their products mainly through machines and plant (i.e. capital-intensive companies). An additional aim is to understand what the reasons for these differences are and why ISO 9001 has limitations in reducing the different categories of costs of poor quality. Design/methodology/approach – The paper is based on a questionnaire administered to a sample of 42 companies divided into six different sectors: chemical, pharmaceutical, mechanical, food, ceramic and steel. Respondents were asked to give a percentage score for the contribution the ISO 9001 non-conformity process makes to the reduction in total cost of poor quality and to its categories: scrap, rework, machine stoppage, re-inspections, rejected products and recall cost. A one-way Anova test was applied to the means of the percentage scores to determine whether there are differences between the means of the total cost of poor quality and its categories. Qualitative comments and suggestions from the companies provided information that helped explain the reasons for such differences. Findings – The results of the research show that there is no difference within and between the sectors in the means of the total cost of poor quality and scrap cost, whereas there are significant differences in the means of the other costs of poor quality between the six sectors. The ISO 9001 non-conformity process has limitations in reducing the costs of poor quality and suggestions concerning the limitations of ISO 9001 in the Research and Development process emerge. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of the research findings is limited because of the use of just six sectors of capital-intensive companies. Further research about differences in different sectors is needed. Practical implications – The implications of this research are useful for consultants and managers who want to understand what the limitations of the ISO 9001 non-conformity process are on the cost of poor quality in the six sectors. The findings clearly show how, together with ISO 9001, they should take into account other improvement processes such as periodic maintenance and revamping. Originality/value – The paper discusses in a quantitative way and for the first time the effects of the ISO 9001 non-conformity process on the cost of poor quality.

Underdiagnosis and Undertreatment of Migraine in Italy: A Survey of Patients Attending for The First Time 10 Headache Centres

Cephalalgia ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (12) ◽  
pp. 1285-1293 ◽  
Author(s):  
S Cevoli ◽  
D D'Amico ◽  
P Martelletti ◽  
F Valguarnera ◽  
E Del Bene ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Healthcare Utilization ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Current Therapy ◽  
Previous Diagnosis ◽  
Headache Diagnosis ◽  
First Time ◽  
Headache Centres

The aim of this study was to asses the clinical features, pattern of healthcare and drug utilization of migraine patients attending 10 Italian headache centres (HC). Migraine is underdiagnosed and undertreated everywhere throughout the world, despite its considerable burden. Migraine sufferers often deal with their problem alone using self-prescribing drugs, whereas triptans are used by a small proportion of patients. All patients attending for the first time 10 Italian HCs over a 3-month period were screened for migraine. Migraine patients underwent a structured direct interview about previous migraine diagnosis, comorbidity, headache treatments and their side-effects and healthcare utilization for migraine. Patient satisfaction with their usual therapy for the migraine attack was evaluated with the Migraine-Assessment of Current Therapy (ACT) questionnaire. The quality of life of migraine patients was assessed by mean of Short Form (SF)-12 and Migraine-Specific Quality of life (MSQ) version 2.1 questionnaires. Of the 2675 patients who attended HCs for the first time during the study period, 71% received a diagnosis of migraine and the first 953 subjects completed the study out of 1025 patients enrolled. Only 26.8% of migraine patients had a previous diagnosis of migraine; 62.4% of them visited their general practitioner (GP) in the last year, 38.2% saw a specialist for headache, 23% attended an Emergency Department and 4.5% were admitted to hospital for migraine; 82.8% of patients used non-specific drugs for migraine attacks, whereas 17.2% used triptans and only 4.8% used a preventive migraine medication. Triptans were used by 46.4% of patients with a previous diagnosis of migraine. About 80% of migraine patients took over-the-counter medications. The Migraine-ACT revealed that 60% of patients needed a change in their treatment of migraine attacks, 85% of whom took non-specific drugs. Both the MSQ version 2.1 and the SF-12 questionnaires indicated a poor quality of life of most patients. Migraine represents the prevalent headache diagnosis in Italian HCs. Migraine is still underdiagnosed in Italy and migraine patients receive a suboptimal medical approach in our country, despite the healthcare utilization of migraine subjects being noteworthy. A cooperative network involving GPs, neurologists and headache specialists is strongly desirable in order to improve long-term migraine management in Italy.

scholarly journals CaRiSMA 1.0: Cardiac Risk Self-Monitoring Assessment

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 179-190 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Agostinelli ◽  
Micaela Morettini ◽  
Agnese Sbrollini ◽  
Elvira Maranesi ◽  
Lucia Migliorelli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Wearable Sensors ◽  
Training Session ◽  
Cardiac Risk ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Traffic Light ◽  
Self Monitoring ◽  
Software Application ◽  
Traffic Lights ◽  
Quality Signals ◽  
First Time

Background:Sport-related sudden cardiac death (SRSCD) can only be fought through prevention.Objective:The aim of this study is to propose an innovative software application, CaRiSMA 1.0 (Cardiac Risk Self-Monitoring Assessment), as a potential tool to help contrasting SRSCD and educating to a correct training.Methods:CaRiSMA 1.0 analyzes the electrocardiographic and heart-rate (HR) signals acquired during a training session through wearable sensors and provides intuitive graphical outputs consisting of two traffic lights, one related to cardiac health, based on resting QTc (a parameter quantifying the duration of ventricular contraction and subsequent relaxation), and one related to training, based on exercise HR. Safe and worthwhile training sessions have green traffic lights. A red QTc traffic light indicates the need of a medical consultation, whereas a red HR traffic light indicate the need of a reduction of training intensity. By way of example, CaRiSMA 1.0 was applied to sample data acquired in 10 volunteers (age= 27±11 years; males/females 3/7).Results:Two acquisitions (20.0%) were rejected because too noisy, indicating that wearable sensors may record poor quality signals. The QTc traffic light was red in 1 case, indicating that people practicing sport may not be aware of being at risk. The HR traffic light was red in 0 cases.Conclusion:CaRiSMA 1.0 is a software application that, for the first time in the sport context, uses QTc, the most important index of cardiac risk in clinics. Thus, it has the potential for giving a contribution in the fight against SRSCD.

scholarly journals Moderate evidence for a Lombard effect in a phylogenetically basal primate

PeerJ ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. e2328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Schopf ◽  
Sabine Schmidt ◽  
Elke Zimmermann
Keyword(s):  
Auditory Feedback ◽  
Background Noise ◽  
Vocal Communication ◽  
Lombard Effect ◽  
Voice Control ◽  
Mouse Lemurs ◽  
System Properties ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Voice ◽  
Grey Mouse Lemur

When exposed to enhanced background noise, humans avoid signal masking by increasing the amplitude of the voice, a phenomenon termed the Lombard effect. This auditory feedback-mediated voice control has also been found in monkeys, bats, cetaceans, fish and some frogs and birds. We studied the Lombard effect for the first time in a phylogenetically basal primate, the grey mouse lemur,Microcebus murinus. When background noise was increased, mouse lemurs were able to raise the amplitude of the voice, comparable to monkeys, but they did not show this effect consistently across context/individuals. The Lombard effect, even if representing a generic vocal communication system property of mammals, may thus be affected by more complex mechanisms. The present findings emphasize an effect of context, and individual, and the need for further standardized approaches to disentangle the multiple system properties of mammalian vocal communication, important for understanding the evolution of the unique human faculty of speech and language.

Schools as learning organizations

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 1106-1115
Author(s):  
Laurie Field
Keyword(s):  
Learning Organization ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Learning Organizations ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
The Political ◽  
Educational Improvement ◽  
Content Type ◽  
First Time ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the desirability and attainability of schools becoming learning organizations. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a critical analysis based on a wide-ranging review of the “schools as learning organizations” literature. Findings The notion of learning organization applied to schools is fundamentally flawed. Most notably, schools as learning organizations are conceptualized in so many different ways that it is possible to claim almost anything; the political aspects of shared learning are inadequately handled; and poor quality scholarship is commonplace. Practical implications There are repeated claims in the educational improvement literature that that there are significant benefits for schools that become learning organizations and, as a result, school leaders should steer schools in this direction. However, this paper critically challenges these claims, concluding instead that schools and their leaders should ignore calls to become learning organizations. Originality/value Many scholars, together with agencies such as the OECD, have suggested that, for schools, the learning organization is both a desirable goal and an achievable endpoint. The value of this paper is that, for the first time, these claims are subjected to a comprehensive critical review, revealing them to be hollow rhetoric rather than attainable reality.

scholarly journals Analog Reconfigurable Circuits

2014 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
pp. 8-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrzej Malcher ◽  
Piotr Falkowski
Keyword(s):  
Analog Circuits ◽  
Analog Circuit ◽  
Dynamic Reconfiguration ◽  
Reconfigurable Circuits ◽  
Analog Electronics ◽  
Programmable Analog ◽  
Field Programmable ◽  
Field Programmable Analog Arrays ◽  
Analog Arrays

Abstract The aim of this paper is to present an overview of a new branch of analog electronics represented by analog reconfigurable circuits. The reconfiguration of analog circuits has been known and used since the beginnings of electronics, but the universal reconfigurable circuits called Field Programmable Analog Arrays (FPAA) have been developed over the last two decades. This paper presents the classification of analog circuit reconfiguration, examples of FPAA solutions obtained as academic projects and commercially available ones, as well as some application examples of the dynamic reconfiguration of FPAA

Reconfigurable digital receiver design and application for instantaneous polarimetric measurement

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 355-364 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zongbo Wang ◽  
Oleg A. Krasnov ◽  
Galina P. Babur ◽  
Leo P. Ligthart ◽  
Fred van der Zwan
Keyword(s):  
Analog Circuits ◽  
Intermediate Frequency ◽  
System Stability ◽  
Receiver Design ◽  
Digital Receiver ◽  
Polarimetric Radar ◽  
Digital Implementation ◽  
Atmospheric Remote Sensing ◽  
Field Programmable ◽  
Processing Algorithms

This paper presents the development of a reconfigurable receiver to undertake challenging signal processing tasks for a novel polarimetric radar system. The field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs)-based digital receiver samples incoming signals at intermediate frequency (IF) and processes signals digitally instead of using conventional analog approaches. It offers more robust system stability and avoids unnecessary multichannel calibrations of analog circuits for a full polarimetric radar. Two kinds of dual-orthogonal signals together with corresponding processing algorithms have been investigated; the digital implementation architectures for all algorithms are then presented. Processing algorithms implemented in FPGA chips can be reconfigured adaptively regarding to different transmitted waveforms without modification of hardware. The successful development of such reconfigurable receiver extends our radar capacity and thus yields tremendous experimental flexibility for atmospheric remote sensing and polarimetric studies of ground-based targets.

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