Passive Tool Research Articles

Full-Body Impressions: A category of trace fossils unique to exceptionally preserved bedding planes and indicators of true substrates

Certain biogenic sedimentary structures can be considered to be reliable indicators of true substrates. Full-body impressions, or FBIs, are trace fossils that are shallow, highly-detailed impressions of the ventral axial anatomy of low body mass animals made while living . Their mode of preservation makes FBIs distinct from undertracks, body moulds, or passive tool marks. FBIs are made at the air- or water-substrate interface during sedimentary stasis. Associated trace fossils, like those that exhibit excavations with preserved waste mounds and very near-surface burrow roofs, located on the same bedding plane, can support the interpretation of true substrate preservation. Integration of the biogenic and sedimentological data from both Carboniferous and Pleistocene sites with well-preserved bedding-plane trace fossil assemblages has confirmed the conditions under which true substrates are preserved. These include periods (as brief as days to weeks) of sedimentary stasis, followed by gentle deposition without erosion, and without the need to invoke biofilms or biomats as consolidants. The potential for these taphonomic conditions exist in both alluvial and lacustrine environments, as well as intertidal-estuarine valleys, as described by other published examples of FBI preservation. Future FBI discoveries will prove useful in identifying true substrates across a range of time periods and environments.

Infrastructures and International Relations: A Critical Reflection on Materials and Mobilities

Abstract In a world of accelerated movements, this article examines how infrastructures matter in international relations. We first show that the International Relations (IR) discipline has relegated infrastructures to the background of their studies and treated them as passive tools despite their forcible role in the establishment of the modern state system. By adopting a sociological definition of “the international,” this article emphasizes the centrality of materials and mobilities in thinking about the international and calls for a novel infrastructural lens in the IR discipline. We argue that infrastructures provide crucial mechanisms for forging the distinctions between units that constitute the international as a separate realm. We outline how infrastructures continuously transform this realm through re-scaling and re-ordering spaces, polities, and people. In the meantime, infrastructures are at the heart of social processes, which generate knowledge practices that constitute the international. They inscribe themselves in discourses, produce meaning, and shape identities, and they are thus part of the ideational underpinning of the international. We conclude by advocating a shift in the analytical weight of materials in IR, premised on an interdisciplinary dialogue, and suggest a theoretical and methodological recalibration of the discipline’s treatment of infrastructures.

A wireless and passive tool holder for online measurement of milling temperature

Abstract The measurement of cutting temperature is very important in monitoring the manufacturing process and greatly impacts tool wear and the workpiece surface quality. Milling temperature measurement is particularly difficult due to high-speed rotation. This paper uses an intelligent and wireless passive tool-holder system for milling temperature sensing, with a resolution of 0.25°C, a range of 0~700°C, and an update speed of 10 Hz. Thermocouple is pre-embedded in the machined groove near the cutting edge on the flank face of the milling tool, and signal acquisition circuits and wireless transmission module are integrated into the tool holder system for online signal processing. Based on electromagnetic induction, the self-power supply scheme is designed by converting the rotating kinetic energy of the spindle to electricity, and hierarchical energy regulation is achieved to realize a stable and constant power supply. With a temperature-sensing intelligent tool holder, cutting experiments on different processing parameters are carried out to verify the feasibility of the measurement system.

Online Learning Evaluation (Kahoot!) As A Motivational Tool For Students Learning

We live in an era in which technology develops and evolves every second, making it important to explore its application in teaching and learning outcomes. Traditionally, educators have used passive tools and techniques to deliver information and course materials. However, the spread of technology in the field of education has been followed by the use of various tools in the classroom, such as Kahoot!, a game-based learning platform. This study showed that implementing Kahoot! in an undergraduate course, Seminar and Presentation Skills, at Sultan Qaboos University increased students’ motivation and engagement. Overall, 70.2% of students stated that Kahoot! increased their interest in the course and enjoyment of the class atmosphere. About 64% of the students also appreciated the real-time assessment of their performance in the classroom. The use of Kahoot! improved key skills in students’ attention, creativity, and critical thinking. This study could inspire educators and college instructors to use active learning tools to optimize the learning outcomes of their courses.

Pharmacist insights into antimicrobial stewardship: A social marketing approach

BackgroundAntimicrobial resistance is a worldwide public health problem. Antimicrobial stewardship programs (ASPs) optimize antimicrobial use within hospitals. The social marketing framework has been used in analyzing systems and devising best practices. Objective(s): To use the social marketing framework to explore pharmacist experiences and perceptions of structural, behavioral and interventional strategies that support ASPs. MethodsA qualitative approach utilizing semi-structured individual interviews was utilized. A purposive sample of hospital pharmacists was invited to participate. An interview guide was constructed to describe participant experience and perceptions regarding ASPs in their institutions based on elements of social marketing: Behavioral goals; Customer Insight; Segmentation and Targeting; Competition; Exchange; and Marketing and Interventional mix. Interviews were recorded digitally and transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was conducted using deductive methods. A combination of case-based and code-based approaches allowed individual and holistic analyses respectively. Codes were collated into themes and subthemes. ResultsSaturation of themes occurred with 25 interviews from 17 hospitals. ASP metrics included: consumption of antibiotics using days of therapy and defined daily dose, rates of C. difficile and multidrug resistant organisms, resistance patterns, and provider adherence to the ASP. Active stewardship tools such as preauthorization, and prospective feedback/audit were preferred over passive tools such as order sets and automatic stop orders. A physician champion and a clinical pharmacist with infectious disease training were core elements in the multidisciplinary team. Despite certain areas being considered key for stewardship, participants emphasized a hospital-wide approach including outpatient departments; discharge stewardship emerged as a primary theme. Leadership supported ASPs with finances, rapid and novel diagnostics, Clinical Decision Support Systems, mobile technology, and continuous staff training. ConclusionsThe social marketing framework has been used to explore pharmacist perceptions that inform successful qualities including metrics, restriction methods, personnel, benefits, barriers, training needs/modes, and promotional avenues that support ASPs in hospitals.

Towards Joint Activity Design Heuristics: Essentials for Human-Machine Teaming

As machines increasingly behave more like active cognitive agents than passive tools, additional heuristics for supporting joint human-machine activity are urgently needed to complement existing usability heuristics. Despite the rich and extensive design guidance produced by forty years of cognitive systems engineering (CSE) and related fields, the lack of large-scale impact can be attributed, in part, to insufficient translation of CSE principles and guidelines to language and tools that are ready for designers and other decision-makers responsible for these automation-infused solutions. Towards this need, we synthesized a partial and preliminary list of ten machine requirements intended to capture some of the essentials of joint activity. We believe solidifying these essentials and their implications for machines is a first and necessary step towards deriving joint activity design heuristics that are valuable, practical, and sustainable for operational personnel. Through iterative refinement, we believe the combination of strong ideas and strong practicality in these tools can be the basis for a large-scale shift in the design and evaluation of human-machine teams.

A flexible tool for joining dissimilar materials by the novel hole hemming process

This research work presents the development of a flexible tool for performing the new joining process, called hole hemming, between dissimilar materials with very different mechanical properties. This work includes the design, fabrication, and assembly of the structural, active and passive components of the hole hemming tool and the evaluation of their performance. The tool is designed to have adjustable structural and passive tool components as well as easily interchangeable active tool components. The tool is evaluated for joining the AA6082-T4 aluminum sheet with 2 mm thickness to the AZ31 magnesium sheet with 0.9 mm thickness by experimental tests. The maximum force measured during the hole flanging and hemming stages is about 55 kN and 70 kN, respectively. The experimental data is also compared to the numerical results obtained from the finite element analysis of an ideal design. The results in both stages allow concluding the developed tool meets the considered requirements and can be efficiently used for creating hole-hemmed joints between dissimilar materials.

Analysis of Friction Stirs Welding Using the PROMETHEE Method

In friction stir welding (FSW) near the tool Thermo-mechanical condition of the piece at work the aim of the present work is to simulate Using general purpose software for this A fully coupled three-dimensional solid mechanical model has been created. ABAQUS/Arbitrary Lagrange- Eulerian (ALE) formulation re-meshing and large Enables transparency with distortions. Of FSW One of the least understood aspects of in friction stir welding (FSW) near the tool. For different welding speeds, forces and equipment Temperatures are recorded accurately in standard welding are done. Conditions. Numerical the simulations implemented are arbitrary Based on the Lograngian Eulerian (ALE) formula have the key aspect of the numerical approach is the palette and contact and friction between the tool accurate calculations of surface area. Accurate calculation of surface area. PROMETHEE is a priority for assessment enrichment Ranking system and its interactive help Descriptive complementary geometric analysis known as Promethee methods. In this The PROMETHEE method is the best solution from the analysis the shorter the distance and the longer the negative-ideal solution Determines the solution with the distance, but of these distances the comparison was not considered significant. Alternative: Conductivity, Thermal capacity, Density, Effusively, Emissivity. Evaluation Preference: Work piece, FSW Tool, Backing plate, strength, and conductivity. As a result FSW tool is very low As a result passive tool is very low got first rank for strength. The value of the dataset for Friction stir welding in PROMETHEE method shows that it results in strength is and top ranking.

LOW-COST 3D TECHNIQUES FOR REAL SCULPTURAL TWINS IN THE MUSEUM DOMAIN

Abstract. The contribution presented is part of a broader study of Cultural Heritage valorisation, defining a workflow for creating full-scale copies of statues using non-contact acquisition tools and 3D printing to enable tactile enjoyment. The research presents an experiment using low-cost active and passive tools to acquire a statuary element in the Ostia Antica Park in Rome. The paper describes a testing process of such instruments, evaluating their performance from a metrological point of view. Furthermore, the experimentation verifies the morphological reliability of different copies of the original, obtained sequentially with different production processes and materials, to validate the production process of statuary copy. The scale of the case study is small and suitable for applying different survey approaches and comparing them towards the definition of a possible working protocol for massive low-cost artefacts 3D acquisition.

Human-Robot Body Experience: An Artificial Intelligence Perspective

Human body experience is remarkably flexible, which enables us to integrate passive tools as well as intelligent robotic devices into our body representation. Accordingly, it can serve as a role model to make (assistive) robots interact seamlessly with their users or to provide (humanoid) robots with a human-like self-perception and behavior generation. This article discusses the potential of understanding human body experience and applying it to robotics. Particular focus is set on how to use artificial intelligence techniques and create intelligent artificial agents from insights about human body experience. The discussion is based on a summary of the author’s habilitation thesis and combines theoretical and experimental perspectives from psychology, cognitive science and neuroscience as well as computer science, engineering, and artificial intelligence. From this, it derives directions for future developments towards creating artificial body intelligence with human-like capabilities.

Numerical analysis of influence of various bluff-body shapes on diffusion flame dynamics

In this paper, various bluff-body shapes (cylindrical, square, star) and two different surface topologies (smooth, wavy) are applied as passive tools for controlling a non-premixed hydrogen flame in a combustion chamber. We focus on the dynamics of the flame and its time-averaged characteristics in the close vicinity of an injection system within formed recirculation zones and also in a far-field. The research is performed with the help of large-eddy simulations (LES) method using the ANSYS Fluent software and a high-order academic code SAILOR. Flame behaviour is found to be strongly dependent on the geometry of the bluff-body whereas its wall topology affects the flame characteristics only slightly. In the cases with the square and star bluff-body, small vortical structures originating at the corners deform large vortical structures created by the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability mechanism. This intensifies the mixing and combustion process and, in the configuration with the square shape bluff-body, translates to the shortening of the recirculation zone by 15% of the equivalent bluff-body diameter and the flame, which in the axis develops closer to the bluff-body. The star shape leads to the most uniform flame at the radial border or the recirculation zone.

Curriculum meets platform: A reconceptualisation of flexible pathways in open and higher education

In open and higher education, digital technologies are increasingly used to enable flexible learning pathways and unbundle programs into separate courses. Whereas technologies have been praised for enhancing the flexibility of curricula, the implications of going digital have yet to be fully explored in curriculum studies. This article aims to critically investigate how an open education platform, OpenLearn, describes, prescribes, and enacts a particular form of curriculum. Rather than understanding platforms as passive tools for facilitating education, the article draws on theoretical and methodological ideas from science and technology studies (STS) to approach “curriculum” as a collection of socio-technical practices in which platforms play an active role. The findings of our analysis detail how networks of human and other-than-human actors are situated in a wider ecology and enact five curricular practices: prescribing, mobilising, enrolling, evaluating, and rebundling. We propose “platform curriculum” as a sensitising concept to investigate how technologies enable and constrain these practices instead of simply flexibilising them. With this article, we argue for the further adoption of STS in curriculum studies to disentangle the specific ways in which technologies, too, shape education.

Mapping the literature on Digital and Technological Solutions in nursing: a scoping review protocol.

Digital and technological solutions (DTS) might have an impact on people's personal and professional lives. These types of solutions, according to studies, have the potential to revolutionize and improve the quality and long-term sustainability of healthcare activities, with nurses playing a significant role. Although DTS appears to be intimately linked to the future of nursing, technology must be utilized as an active rather than passive tool. Nonetheless, understanding DTS appears to be difficult, and a scoping study can provide a thorough overview of such a complicated topic. As a result, the scoping study on this topic will map all of the important aspects of DTS and synthesize studies on the nursing workforce, as well as analyze and clarify knowledge gaps and aid future research and development. This article presents the study protocol. The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) scoping review methodology will be used for the proposed scoping review. It will include both quantitative and qualitative scientific research as well as grey literature on DTS in nursing. Only English-language works will be considered for inclusion. Two independent reviewers will take part in an iterative process of evaluating literature, choosing papers, and extracting data. Disagreements among reviewers will be resolved through debate until a consensus is reached or through consultation with the study team if necessary. Results will be presented using descriptive statistics, diagrammatic or tabular displayed information, and narrative summaries, as specified in the JBI guidelines. This scoping review protocol explained why it is important to describe the literature on embracing DTS in the nursing field, how to approach the research process, and what the study's key implications will be. The protocol itself may be helpful to increase transparency in the research process, attract interested researchers to work with the group that developed the protocol and offer a practical methodological benchmark for researchers interested in performing scoping reviews by serving as an example of a scoping review protocol.

Enhancing sensitivity in atomic force microscopy for planar tip-on-chip probes

We present a new approach to tuning-fork-based atomic force microscopy for utilizing advanced “tip-on-chip” probes with high sensitivity and broad compatibility. Usually, such chip-like probes with a size reaching 2 × 2 mm2 drastically perturb the oscillation of the tuning fork, resulting in poor performance in its intrinsic force sensing. Therefore, restoring initial oscillatory characteristics is necessary for regaining high sensitivity. To this end, we developed a new approach consisting of three basic steps: tuning-fork rebalancing, revamping holder-sensor fixation, and electrode reconfiguration. Mass rebalancing allows the tuning fork to recover the frequency and regain high Q-factor values up to 104 in air and up to 4 × 104 in ultra-high vacuum conditions. The floating-like holder-fixation using soft wires significantly reduces energy dissipation from the mounting elements. Combined with the soft wires, reconfigured electrodes provide electrical access to the chip-like probe without intervening in the force-sensing signal. Finally, our easy-to-implement approach allows converting the atomic force microscopy tip from a passive tool to a dedicated microdevice with extended functionality.

Techno-Radicalism

Today there is fairly rich literature to study how radical groups take advantage of technology to realize their goals. Something, however, is missing in such discussions as to how technology might affect the subjectivity of extremists. Technology, in the most of such inquiries, is taken to be merely a passive tool without any inherent bias. This instrumentalist approach to technology, however, turns out to be problematic. The contemporary studies of technology may provide us, as it will be argued, with insights to understand how technology might incline civilians towards radicalization. Two frameworks of postphenomenology and Actor-Network-Theory (ANT) will be the primary focus here to outline a schema of the impacts of technology on radicalization of minds. Although technology, with all its variety, is the general concern of the article, it will narrow the discussion down to social media platforms to make the point. It will be then suggested to ascribe an active role to technology in radicalism scholarship, thereby drawing attentions to the process of designing technologies.

“그녀가 운다” - 생태비평으로 읽는 예레미야 12장 -

The purpose of this paper is to interpret Jeremiah 12 focusing on three foci(suspicion, identification, retrieval) developed by the Earth Project team. Before dealing with the three foci, this paper observes some impressive ecocritical points in the text. Scholars tend to think that “the one I truly love” (12:7) refers to the Judahites and personifies them as Yahweh’s wife. But in Yahweh’s poetic speech (12:7-13), it is noted that neither the word Judah nor people appear but only earth and its components. All three words, “house”, “heritage”, and “the one I truly love” can be seen as referring to the land. More earth components such as ‘portion’, ‘bird of prey’, and ‘vineyard’ appear in the rest of Yahweh’s poetic speech. Humans are de-centered.<BR> First, in the suspicion section, it can be judged that the interests of the biblical narrator are generally anthropocentric. Earth and its components are represented as passive tools in human-centered theological messages. However, this situation is neither justified nor considered natural. Jeremiah is very concerned about the suffering of earth and its components, and judges human sin as the cause (12:4). The paper also demonstrates that commentaries and interpretations have been anthropocentric. Interpreters including myself have seen earth components as much less subjective and less of their own voice than the ways they are represented by the biblical narrator.<BR> Second, in the identification section, it is observed that the desolate land has her own thoughts and emotions, and so she mourns and blames Yahweh. All including the wicked, lion, thorns, and foreign peoples are inhabitants of the land, so she mourns over the sad reality affecting all creation. I identified most with the land among many non-human characters, so through eco-midrash, I tried to give a voice to the land.<BR> Third, in the section of retrieval, it is observed that the land’s mourning reveals the narrator’s inner thoughts. Although the narrator says through his lips that the foreign invasion is punishment from God for people’s disobedience, he resents such punishment in his heart. The climax of retrieval is found in Yahweh’s intense love and hate toward the land, especially when she mourns and blames the deity (12:11). Just as Jeremiah’s confessions voice resistance to mainstream theology, blaming the people for the collapse of the state, so the earth voices resistance to Yahweh. When Yahweh complains that no one cares about the desolate land, the deity unwittingly discloses that he responds to the mourning land and cares about her! Yahweh’s love and hate extend even to foreign peoples. They are given a chance to return to their homeland and the possibility to become his people. The land like Yahweh provides the possibility that everyone will become one, overcoming dichotomy between friends and foes, and the Judahites and the foreigners.

Seasonal influence of leaf area index (LAI) on the energy performance of a green facade

Double-skin green facades using deciduous climbing plants are easy-to-implement construction systems stated to be effective energy-saving tools for buildings during cooling periods. Although the leaf area index (LAI) has been identified as a key parameter for characterizing foliar density and, consequently, the green facade's potential as a passive tool for energy savings, a lack of knowledge still remains on this index's values and measurement methods. The present paper aims to characterize the annual LAI evolution of a Boston ivy double-screen green facade under Mediterranean continental climate (Csa), by using an original non-destructive methodology during two consecutive years. Moreover, the influence of the green facade's foliage density, characterized by LAI, on the external building wall temperatures and the energy consumption by season and orientation was addressed. From the results it can be noticed that LAI changed seasonally over the course of five periods with a related differentiated energy performance: early summer (LAI of 4.8; 54% savings for cooling), late summer (LAI of 4.4; 30% savings for cooling), autumn (LAI of 1.7; 5.4% increase for heating), winter (LAI of 0.9; 5.4% increase for heating), and spring (LAI of 3.6; 11.9% increase for heating). The increase of energy consumption during leaf-off stage was directly linked to woody material and remaining leaves. Two crucial effects were identified and characterized: firstly, the influence of facade orientation and, secondly, a slight “insulation effect” at night, with the green screen acting as a thermal barrier.

Aerial Tele-Manipulation with Passive Tool via Parallel Position/Force Control

This paper addresses the problem of unilateral contact interaction by an under-actuated quadrotor UAV equipped with a passive tool in a bilateral teleoperation scheme. To solve the challenging control problem of force regulation in contact interaction while maintaining flight stability and keeping the contact, we use a parallel position/force control method, commensurate to the system dynamics and constraints in which using the compliant structure of the end-effector the rotational degrees of freedom are also utilized to attain a broader range of feasible forces. In a bilateral teleoperation framework, the proposed control method regulates the aerial manipulator position in free flight and the applied force in contact interaction. On the master side, the human operator is provided with force haptic feedback to enhance his/her situational awareness. The validity of the theory and efficacy of the solution are shown by experimental results. This control architecture, integrated with a suitable perception/localization pipeline, could be used to perform outdoor aerial teleoperation tasks in hazardous and/or remote sites of interest.

Mixed reality or LEGO game play? Fostering social interaction in children with Autism

This study extends the previous research in which it has been shown that a mixed reality (MR) system fosters social interaction behaviours (SIBs) in children with Autism Spectrum Condition (ASC). When comparing this system to a LEGO-based non-digital intervention, it has been observed that an MR system effectively mediates a face-to-face play session between a child with ASC and a child without ASC providing new specific advantageous properties (e.g. not being a passive tool, not needing to be guided by the therapist). Considering the newly collected multimodal data totaling to 72 children (36 trials of dyads, child with ASC/child without ASC), a first goal of the present study is to apply detailed statistical inference and machine learning techniques to extensively evaluate the overall effect of this MR system, when compared to the LEGO condition. This goal also includes the analysis of psychophysiological data and allows the context-driven triangulation of the multimodal data which is operationalized by (i) video-coding of SIBs, (ii) psychophysiological data, and (iii) system logs of user-system events. A second goal is to show how SIBs, taking place in these experiences, are influenced by the internal states of the users and the system. SIBs were measured by video-coding overt behaviours (Initiation, Response and Externalization) and with self-reports. Internal states were measured using a wearable device designed by the FuBIntLab (Full-Body Interaction Lab) to acquire: Electrocardiogram (ECG) and Electrodermal Activity (EDA) data. Affective sliders and State Trait Anxiety Scale questionnaires were used as self-reports. Repeated-measures design was chosen with two conditions, the MR environment and the traditional therapy LEGO. The results show that the MR system has a positive effect on SIBs when compared to the LEGO condition, with an added advantage of being more flexible.

Haplets: Finger-Worn Wireless and Low-Encumbrance Vibrotactile Haptic Feedback for Virtual and Augmented Reality

We introduce Haplets, a wearable, low-encumbrance, finger-worn, wireless haptic device that provides vibrotactile feedback for hand tracking applications in virtual and augmented reality. Haplets are small enough to fit on the back of the fingers and fingernails while leaving the fingertips free for interacting with real-world objects. Through robust physically-simulated hands and low-latency wireless communication, Haplets can render haptic feedback in the form of impacts and textures, and supplements the experience with pseudo-haptic illusions. When used in conjunction with handheld tools, such as a pen, Haplets provide haptic feedback for otherwise passive tools in virtual reality, such as for emulating friction and pressure-sensitivity. We present the design and engineering for the hardware for Haplets, as well as the software framework for haptic rendering. As an example use case, we present a user study in which Haplets are used to improve the line width accuracy of a pressure-sensitive pen in a virtual reality drawing task. We also demonstrate Haplets used during manipulation of objects and during a painting and sculpting scenario in virtual reality. Haplets, at the very least, can be used as a prototyping platform for haptic feedback in virtual reality.