Conventional Attitude Research Articles

MRSA model of learning and adaptation: a qualitative study among the general public

BackgroundMore people in the US now die from Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections than from HIV/AIDS. Often acquired in healthcare facilities or during healthcare procedures, the extremely high incidence of MRSA infections and the dangerously low levels of literacy regarding antibiotic resistance in the general public are on a collision course. Traditional medical approaches to infection control and the conventional attitude healthcare practitioners adopt toward public education are no longer adequate to avoid this collision. This study helps us understand how people acquire and process new information and then adapt behaviours based on learning.MethodsUsing constructivist theory, semi-structured face-to-face and phone interviews were conducted to gather pertinent data. This allowed participants to tell their stories so their experiences could deepen our understanding of this crucial health issue. Interview transcripts were analysed using grounded theory and sensitizing concepts.ResultsOur findings were classified into two main categories, each of which in turn included three subthemes. First, in the category of Learning, we identified how individuals used their Experiences with MRSA, to answer the questions: What was learned? and, How did learning occur? The second category, Adaptation gave us insights into Self-reliance, Reliance on others, and Reflections on the MRSA journey.ConclusionsThis study underscores the critical importance of educational programs for patients, and improved continuing education for healthcare providers. Five specific results of this study can reduce the vacuum that currently exists between the knowledge and information available to healthcare professionals, and how that information is conveyed to the public. These points include: 1) a common model of MRSA learning and adaptation; 2) the self-directed nature of adult learning; 3) the focus on general MRSA information, care and prevention, and antibiotic resistance; 4) the interconnected nature of adaptation; and, 5) the need for a consistent step by step plan to deal with MRSA provided at the time of diagnosis.

Improved Attitude Algorithm for Fiber-Optic-Gyro Strapdown INS

Rotation vector algorithm regarded as a classical and conventional attitude algorithm is widely used in strapdown inertial navigation system. This kind of algorithm usually uses incremental angle in calculation processes. However, the output of fiber-optic gyro is angular rate. Integrating angular rate to get incremental angle leads calculation errors. In this paper, a set of improved attitude algorithms for fiber-optic-gyro strapdown INS using angular rate are developed and evaluated under classical coning motion. The error criterion for the improved algorithms and conventional ones is derived. Under the standard testing circumstance, i.e. classical coning motion, the accuracy of attitude calculation can be improved at least three orders of magnitude as compared with conventional one. Index Terms—Fiber-optic-gyro, Strapdown, INS

Strapdown Navigation Using Geometric Algebra: Screw Blade Algorithm

The rigid body motion can be represented by a motor in geometric algebra, and the motor can be rewritten as a trinometric function of the screw blade. In this paper, a screw blade strapdown inertial navigation system (SDINS) algorithm is developed. The trigonometric function form of the motor is derived and utilized to deduce the Bortz equation of the screw blade. The screw blade SDINS algorithm is proposed by using the procedure similar to that of the conventional rotation vector attitude updating algorithm. The superiority of the screw blade algorithm over the conventional ones in precision is analyzed. Simulation results reveal that the screw blade algorithm is more suitable for the high-pre- cision SDINS than the conventional ones.

Predictive Dynamics-Based Motion Control for the Rough-Terrain Locomotion of the Personal Vehicle Falcon-III

A predictive control strategy aiming to reduce the impact generated on a personal vehicle during obstacle negotiation is proposed. Similarly to the motion executed by a cyclist when he/she is about to negotiate a step, the motion strategy uses a dynamic effect to temporarily reduce the load on the wheel of the vehicle that must negotiate the obstacle, thus reducing the impact force as well. Such motion control strategy was developed for the three-wheeled personal vehicle Falcon-III. The vehicle behavior using the predictive control strategy was first investigated for basic cases, such as when only one of the wheels had to negotiate an obstacle; later, the strategy was generalized by combining the motion derived for the basic cases. Robustness is achieved by the use of fuzzy logic to infer the displacement of the ZMP required to negotiate different obstacles. The predictive motion control strategy was compared with a conventional feedback attitude control strategy, and was shown to produce smaller impacts than simply using the feedback strategy.

Vaginal douching practice in Eskisehir in Turkey

The objective of the study was to identify the vaginal douching habits and the factors that would have a connection with this practice in women from Eskisehir Province in Turkey. This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted from 1 May to 30 June, 2005. In present study, any sampling technique was not used. The subjects were women belonging to the 15 - 49 age groups who were admitted to No. 2 Family Planning Center and Sultandere Primary Health Care Center. A survey containing such questions about the socio-demographic and reproductive characteristics was conducted on these women via a face-to-face interview method. Among the statistical tests, chi-square test and logistic regression analysis were utilized. A total number of 503 women with an average age of 33.18 ± 7.50 were attended at the health center. Vaginal douching was performed in 47.7% women and the most common the method was cleansing (66.6%) and post-intercourse (71.8%). The information about these methods was obtained mostly from their mothers (31.6%). In accordance with the results obtained from the study, the vaginal douching practice is a widespread conventional attitude among women and should be given the necessary importance. It was concluded that it is necessary to provide health education for women who state that they get information concerning the practice mostly from their mothers and this wrong attitude change needs to be corrected. Since vaginal lavage is directly linked with low education levels and the state of unemployment, it is resolved that such measures should be taken to increase the socio-economic levels of women. It is also concluded that special importance should be attached to the health education of the primary health care profession concerning the vaginal lavage. Key words: Vaginal douching, practice, attitude, knowledge, Turkish women.

1A2-C18 テールシックVTOL UAVの最小移動ポストストール姿勢遷移機動

Miniature vertical take-off and landing unmanned aerial vehicles (VTOL UAVs) make various missions possible alone. Since simple tail-sitter UAVs have any extra equipments for tail-sitting maneuver, attitude control is difficult problem. This paper discusses agile turnaround flight utilizing post-stall maneuver for tail-sitter VTOL UAVs. The minimum longitudinal travel distance turnaround strategy is formulated and optimization problem is solved. In order to achieve agile turnaround stably, a novel attitude control strategy for a tail-sitter VTOL UAV is implemented. The results show that the post-stall maneuver with proposed attitude controller achieved minimum travel distance turnaround stability, while conventional attitude controller fails.

Generalized Method for Improved Coning Algorithms using Angular Rate

Conventional attitude algorithms for strapdown inertial navigation system (SINS) use angular increment as algorithm input. However, these algorithms do not address the issue of angular rate which is the output of modern-day gyro. The integration of angular rate for the purpose of getting angular increment degrades the algorithm performance inevitably. To solve this problem, a generalized method for improved coning algorithms is proposed. The improved coning algorithms use angular rate as algorithm input and estimate the coning term with the cross product of angular rates. Simulations are carried out under coning motion. While angular rate is used as algorithm input, the accuracy of attitude computation can be improved effectively by using improved coning algorithms as compared with conventional ones.

H2 and H∞ control options for the combined attitude and thermal control system (CATCS)

The combined attitude and thermal control system (CATCS) combines the conventional attitude control and thermal control subsystems. Its principle is based on circulating a heat conducting fluid inside a closed duct wielding the excess onboard heat in order to produce the attitude control torques. Previously only the proportional-integral (PI) controller has been tested for CATCS. In this paper two other control options for CATCS were designed based on the H 2 and H ∞ control methods to improve the attitude control performance of a small satellite. The control gain matrix with the minimum cost function is obtained by solving the Riccati equation and fed back to the system in order to achieve the system’s performance. The designed controllers can efficiently control the roll, pitch and yaw satellite attitudes. Simulations for the two techniques were carried out using Matlab and Simulink for ideal and non-ideal system models. Results show that the H 2 controller has a better attitude control performance over the H ∞ controller and PI controller itself.

Unknown-Attitude Recoveries Using Conventional and Terrain-Depicting Attitude Indicators: Difference Testing, Equivalence Testing, and Equivalent Level of Safety

The objectives of this study were to assess the effects of differing formats of forward-looking primary flight display (PFD; electronic attitude-direction indicator, full-color terrain, uniformly brown terrain) on general aviation (GA) pilot recoveries from unknown attitudes and to determine if recovery assistance embodied in the display could be useful. Total recovery times and control reversals were examined as indexes of performance for 40 GA pilots, and the recovery times were subjected to a comparative analysis using both a parametric difference analysis and an equivalence testing technique. Results suggest that for the specific conditions investigated, terrain-depicting PFDs supported performance that was equivalent to that observed with the standard attitude indicator. Equivalence testing is recommended for cases where it is desirable to determine if one device or system provides for performance that is equivalent to another.

Hybrid spacecraft attitude control system

The hybrid subsystem design could be an attractive approach for future spacecraft to cope with their demands. The idea of combining the conventional Attitude Control System and the Electrical Power System is presented in this article. The Combined Energy and Attitude Control System (CEACS) consisting of a double counter rotating flywheel assembly is investigated for small satellites in this article. Another hybrid system incorporating the conventional Attitude Control System into the Thermal Control System forming the Combined Attitude and Thermal Control System (CATCS) consisting of a fluid wheel and permanent magnets is also investigated for small satellites herein. The governing equations describing both these novel hybrid subsystems are presented and their onboard architectures are numerically tested. Both the investigated novel hybrid spacecraft subsystems comply with the reference mission requirements. The hybrid subsystem design could be an attractive approach for futurespacecraft to cope with their demands. The idea of combining theconventional Attitude Control System and the Electrical Power System ispresented in this article. The Combined Energy and Attitude ControlSystem (CEACS) consisting of a double counter rotating flywheel assemblyis investigated for small satellites in this article. Another hybrid systemincorporating the conventional Attitude Control System into the ThermalControl System forming the Combined Attitude and Thermal ControlSystem (CATCS) consisting of a fluid wheel and permanent magnets isalso investigated for small satellites herein. The governing equationsdescribing both these novel hybrid subsystems are presented and theironboard architectures are numerically tested. Both the investigated novelhybrid spacecraft subsystems comply with the reference missionrequirements.

Attitude and interlock angle estimation using split-field-of-view star tracker

An efficient Kalman filter based algorithm has been proposed for the spacecraft attitude estimation problem using a novel split-field-of-view star camera and three-axis rate gyros. The conventional spacecraft attitude algorithm has been modified for on-orbit estimation of interlock angles between the two fields of view of star camera, gyro axis, and the spacecraft body frame. Real time estimation of the interlock angles makes the attitude estimates more robust to thermal and environmental effects than in-ground estimation, and makes the overall system more tolerant of off-nominal structural, mechanical, and optical assembly anomalies.

Improved satellite attitude control using a disturbance compensator

An attitude control algorithm using a disturbance compensator has been developed for three-axis-controlled satellites with flexible appendages. It consists of a compensator to stabilize the system (e.g., PD control), a filter to prevent excitation of the neglected higher flexible-mode vibration (e.g., a low-pass filter), and a compensator to suppress the effect of disturbances on the satellite attitude. This disturbance compensator can be designed in the frequency-domain in terms of the robust model matching design method, and also, in the time-domain in terms of the observer/estimator approach. The designed compensator can easily be implemented for a conventional attitude control system. Theoretically, the disturbance compensator makes it possible to assure arbitrarily low sensitivity over any frequency range for disturbances due not only to the environment but also to structural flexibility with keeping the control performance for reference inputs. Thus, the control algorithm can improve the control performance of satellites with the flexible structures. It is applied for the attitude control system of the Japanese VLBI satellite, “HALCA”, launched on February 12, 1997.

Exploring the Public Attitude Using Fuzzy Measures and Fuzzy Integrals

People's support is the crucial issue to the public policy. The understanding of public acceptance or rejection towards the policy, as well as the important attributes of concern, could be very helpful to implementing the policy. However, conventional attitude models can hardly approximate the subjective evaluation process exactly by virtue of the additivity and independency assumptions. Therefore, general fuzzy measures and fuzzy integrals, which require only the boundary conditions and monotonicity, are applied to develop the public attitude analysis model. An empirical study on the compress natural gas (CNG) taxi policy in Taipei City is conducted to show the applicability of this model. The empirical results indicate there are significant differences between the public concern and the governmental publicity, and some valuable strategies are suggested to the government.

Using fuzzy measures and habitual domains to analyze the public attitude and apply to the gas taxi policy

Public acceptance and support are the crucial keys for implementing public policies successfully. Thus, the understanding of public acceptance or rejection towards the policy, as well as the important attributes of concern, could be very helpful to implementing the policy. However, most conventional attitude models could not approximate people's subjective evaluation process exactly by virtue of the additivity and independence assumptions. Additionally, people's decision behavior is deeply affected by their existing habits. Since habitual domains exist in the decision process, if the government can change or extend people's habitual thinking in favor of the public policy, the policy will receive satisfactory acceptance. Therefore, this study uses the habitual domain theory to analyze the public's attitude towards public policies. Furthermore, general fuzzy measures and fuzzy integrals, which require only boundary conditions and monotonicity, are also applied to develop a public attitude analysis model. An empirical study on the compress natural gas (CNG) taxi policy in Taipei City is conducted to show the applicability of the proposed model. The empirical results indicate that there are significant differences between the public's concern and governmental publicity, and some valuable strategies are suggested to the government.

Single-Antenna GPS-Based Aircraft Attitude Determination

A method for synthesizing aircraft attitude information from single-antenna GPS velocity measurements is described. The attitude information consists of flight path angle and roll angle about the aircraft velocity vector axis. This ‘pseudo-attitude’ is compared with the conventional attitude consisting of pitch and roll angle about the body axis. In addition, a pseudo-attitude display is presented that shows flight path angle and roll angle instead of the traditional pitch and roll information, thus yielding direct indications of the actual flight path state. Flight tests in a Piper Arrow aircraft demonstrated that pseudo-attitude is equivalent in performance to conventional attitude, with no subjective or objective differences between the two. The results show that a single-antenna GPS receiver provides a useful source of attitude information and consequently may be used as a backup attitude system or for fault diagnostics in redundant systems.

Use of GPS-Determined Attitude in Combination with Conventional Attitude Sensors

Use of multi antenna GPS equipment for determination of a vessel's attitude holds some promise for the development of accurate and inexpensive attitude systems. An application for such systems might be to provide very accurate roll information for multibeam echo sounders.The present state-of-the-art GPS attitude systems cannot meet the required accuracy and update rate for such applications. GEOTEAM A/S has therefore developed a PC-based system which combines GPS-based attitude with roll and pitch information from a Vertical Reference Unit (VRU) and heading from a gyro compass.In such a combined system, the long-term high accuracy of a GPS-based attitude system is combined with the short-term accuracy and fast update rate of conventional VRUS and gyro compasses in order to achieve a resulting performance that is better than any of the systems. In effect, the GPS attitude is used to calibrate the VRU and the gyro compass in real time.During the past year extensive tests have been performed with a system using a Trimble VECTOR II GPS attitude system with a 1 metre baseline between the antennas, both on a van (with an inertial navigation system as reference) and on a vessel. During November and December 1993 further tests were made with an Ashtech 3DF attitude system with longer baselines (7·5 m). These tests were made on a vessel where the combined GPS/VRU attitude was fed into a multibeam echo sounder. These tests were performed in cooperation with Simrad Subsea A/S, the multibeam echo sounder EM 1000 manufacturer.

Perspective Format for a Primary Flight Display (ADI) and its Effect on Pilot Spatial Awareness

A perspective format for a “Tunnel-in-the-Sky” primary flight display was evaluated in a part-task experiment to determine if it provided improved spatial situation awareness compared to a conventional electronic attitude director indicator. Body referenced visual direction to targets on the ground was used to measure spatial situation awareness. Underestimation of visual direction previously observed in laboratory conditions was replicated in the part-task environment. Conditions under which the the “Tunnel” display could provide less biased and more accurate situation awareness were also investigated.

Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath (review)

REVIEWS 339 the early nineteenth century. Charlotte's unrequited love for the married Belgian, Monsieur Heger, is hardly a conventional attitude for a parson's daughter. Emily's wild spirit also resists taming by the study of contexts, particularly when Winnifrith and Chitham tell us that in her last illness she refused medical attention and "sulked herself to death in circumstances which remain an insoluble mystery" (119). Winnifrith and Chitham's book is excellent for the Brontë expert or student who wishes to learn about a certain aspect of the Brontes by consulting a single chapter. It is not, however, the kind of book one wishes to read in order in its entirety because it is not a biography or literary biography in the conventional sense of a narrative. The house of biography, though, has many rooms, and this approach to lifewriting certainly deserves accommodation. Veronica Makowsky Louisiana State University Anne Stevenson, Bitter Fame: A Life of Sylvia Plath. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989.413 pp. $19.95. Philip Guedella once remarked that "biography, like big game hunting, is one of the recognized forms of sport, and it is as unfair as only sport can be." If Guedella was right, Anne Stevenson must have had a wonderful time on her Plath hunt. Unlike the traditional hunter, however, Stevenson does not wish to boast about the tremendous size and power of her prey. Instead she wants to cut Plath down to size, from an avenging lioness to a peevish kitten, yet she still seems to expect the reader to applaud her conquest. I cannot; but Bitter Fame will at least serve to highlight some of the problems of biography as it attempts to obscure Plath's reputation. The history of Plath biography has been somewhat vexed since scholars often see themselves as Plath's advocates against her literary executor, her husband, the poet Ted Hughes, from whom Plath was separated at the time of her suicide, and the estate's literary agent, Ted Hughes's sister Olwyn. In particular, Plath critics and fans have bemoaned Ted Hughes's destruction of Plath's last journal because he did not want their children to read it. Hughes also states that her penultimate notebook as well as a fragment of a novel-in-progress "disappeared" around that time. Hughes's decision to destroy the last journal is certainly understandable if regrettable , and we can only hope that the other materials reappear since they document the period of Plath's last and greatest poetic achievement, the Ariel poems and others written months preceding her suicide. A climate of suspicion seems inevitable, however , since Plath's literary remains are controlled by those with whom she was not on good terms at the time of her death, leading to scholarly anxiety, while the executors, in turn, must defend themselves from innuendoes that they were to some degree responsible for her suicide. Whatever the "causes," if they can ever be determined, of Plath's suicide, the literary situation is a minefield for all sides. What should a biographer do? In 1987 Linda Wagner-Martin published Sylvia Plath: A Biography (Simon and Schuster). At the end of the preface, Wagner-Martin gives an account of her dealings with Plath's executors. After much correspondence with Ted and Olwyn Hughes in which they suggested many changes and deletions, Wagner-Martin made a difficult decision. 340 biography Vol. 13, No. 4 I did make many changes in response to these comments. However, the requests for changes continued, and I concluded that permissions would be granted only if I agreed to change the manuscript to reflect the Hugheses' points of view. When I realized that this tactic would continue indefinitely, I had to end my attempt to gain permission to quote at length if I was ever to publish this book. As a result of this circumstance, I have had to limit quotations. Consequently, this biography contains less of Plath's writing than I had intended. The alternative would have been to agree to suggestions that would have changed the point of view of this book appreciably. (14) Wagner-Martin's biography of Plath is a sympathetic one which stresses Plath's literary...

The khayāl motif in early Arabic poetry

Anybody who takes the trouble to read and to compare literary studies on classical Arabic poetry published in the course of this century, will notice a surprising conformity of judgement. Scholars tend to be unanimous concerning three points in particular: 1. all basic features of Arabic poetry are already present in pre-Islamic verse; 2. pre-Islamic tribal poetry is the most characteristic expression of the literary genius of the Arabs; 3. medieval Arabic poetry never really changed, even if at certain times, especially in the early Abbasid period, some innovations have been added. In recent studies these views have been slightly modified, but, as far as I see, never seriously challenged. Thus Jamaleddine Bencheikh in his Poetique arabe, a brilliant and perceptive study, explains in his closing chapter that the norms of Arabic classicism were determined during the 6th and 7th century, and that later poetry, despite of some truly innovative poets among the moderns (almuhdathun), completely lost contact with reality. According to him, experience is possible on the linguistic level only; reality is replaced by a poetic and linguistic inventory, un arsenal linguistique.1 If we turn to poetry, in order to verify this view, there is doubtless much to support it. No student of medieval Arabic literature can escape the feeling of a certain monotony. For ever and ever, it seems, the poet is roaming through the desert, discovering the ruins of an abandoned camp and weeping over his lost beloved. The same words, phrases, images, motifs and genres continue to be used, providing rich evidence of the medieval poet's conventional attitude and the ritualistic character of his verse. However, when considering the question from a theoretical point of view, there seems to be reason for some doubt. If it is true that poetry is rooted in society, expressing its values, ideas and problems, then we should expect that the important political and social changes which occurred from the 6th century till the later Middle Ages had left their traces in the poetry of successive historical periods. It is incon-

Are Scores on Conventional Attitude Scales Confounded with other Measures of Attitude Strength? Findings from the General Social Survey

This research investigated the relations of five strength-related attitude dimensions and scores on a conventional attitude scale that measured attitude toward the traditional female role. The respondents were 837 women who participated in the 1983 General Social Survey. The strength-related dimensions, which resembled attitude properties that have been used as moderators of the attitude-behavior relationship, included attitude importance, adequacy of attitude-relevant information, attitude certainty, degree of concern with the attitude issue, and frequency of thinking about the attitude topic. An analysis of variance showed that for all of the strength-related properties except firmness, the mean attitude scale scores for the different levels of strength varied significantly when the dimensions were used as independent variables. Moreover, there were directional differences in which the mean scale scores were generally greater for the higher levels of strength than for the lower levels. These results contradict experimental findings in which similar attitude dimensions were not confounded with conventional attitude scores.