Trilateral Framework Research Articles

Decoding modular reconfigurable robots: A survey on mechanisms and design

The intrinsic modularity and reconfigurability of modular reconfigurable robot (MRR) systems confer advantages such as versatility, fault tolerance, and economic efficacy, thereby showcasing considerable potential across diverse applications. The continuous evolution of the technology landscape and the emergence of diverse conceptual designs have generated multiple MRR categories, each described by its respective morphology or capability characteristics, leading to some ambiguity in the taxonomy. This paper conducts a comprehensive survey covering a wide range of mechanism and design aspects of MRR systems, spanning from 1985 to 2023. It introduces an innovative, unified conceptual framework for understanding MRR hardware, which encompasses three pivotal elements: connectors, actuators, and homogeneity. Through the utilization of this trilateral framework, this paper systematically interprets and classifies MRR systems over the years, aiming to provide a structured taxonomy perspective and enhance understanding of MRR. It explains the fundamental attributes characterizing MRR systems and their compositional aspects, providing insights into their design, technology, functionality, and categorization. Augmented by the proposed trilateral framework, this paper also elaborates on the trajectory of evolution, prevailing trends, principal challenges, and potential prospects within the field of MRR.

LP-OPTIMA: A Framework for Prescriptive Maintenance and Optimization of IoT Resources for Low-Power Embedded Systems.

Low-power embedded systems have been widely used in a variety of applications, allowing devices to efficiently collect and exchange data while minimizing energy consumption. However, the lack of extensive maintenance procedures designed specifically for low-power systems, coupled with constraints on anticipating faults and monitoring capacities, presents notable difficulties and intricacies in identifying failures and customized reaction mechanisms. The proposed approach seeks to address the gaps in current resource management frameworks and maintenance protocols for low-power embedded systems. Furthermore, this paper offers a trilateral framework that provides periodic prescriptions to stakeholders, a periodic control mechanism for automated actions and messages to prevent breakdowns, and a backup AI malfunction detection module to prevent the system from accessing any stress points. To evaluate the AI malfunction detection module approach, three novel autonomous embedded systems based on different ARM Cortex cores have been specifically designed and developed. Real-life results obtained from the testing of the proposed AI malfunction detection module in the developed embedded systems demonstrated outstanding performance, with metrics consistently exceeding 98%. This affirms the efficacy and reliability of the developed approach in enhancing the fault tolerance and maintenance capabilities of low-power embedded systems.

The Landscaped Folds

Most of Gong Xian's (1618–1689) long landscape handscrolls were originally structured as accordion albums. This article discusses the morphology and metamorphosis of the accordion folds as a painting format, and rethinks the issues of surface, depth, and depths of Chinese landscape from the perspective of the painter's conception of his work. In the process of landscaping the folds—as opposed to folding the landscapes, Gong Xian subordinated painting to discernable methodologies and sensitives that are inherently related to the folds. The accordion folds were not merely an environmental reference to the representation, but a painter's choice, an authorial impetus and method that effectuated the representation, and an act that realized a work in space. I argue that for Gong Xian, it was not the landscape per se but the painting format that was being represented. Meanwhile, I correlate the issue of format metamorphosis with the increasing ekphrasis in the painting treatises and catalogs compiled in early-modern and modern China to understand image, format, and discourse in a trilateral framework.

Localized health monitoring for seismic resilience quantification and safety evaluation of smart structures

Natural hazards such as earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods cause billions of dollars of economic loss and claim thousands of lives every year. Researchers have proposed various tools and techniques to evaluate, manage, and mitigate seismic risk and improve resilience. Nonetheless, given the uncertainties involved, accurate system assessment requires real-time data on structural health and performance which can be attained through structural health monitoring (SHM) systems. This paper integrates component-based resilience quantification methods and SHM techniques to present a new probabilistic framework for seismic structural system evaluation and decision analysis. A trilateral framework is introduced which (1) uses the data obtained from a localized wireless sensor network to detect and locate damage, (2) develops component-based functionality curves to quantify the seismic resilience of the structure, and (3) makes post-quake rapid decisions based on a multi-criteria safety evaluation method. A nonlinear autoregressive exogenous (ARX) model is used to identify structural response and a statistical damage-sensitive coefficient is used to detect, locate, and measure damage in the system. Minor damages due to corrosion and major damages due to past extreme events are studied in the functionality analysis. Two groups of archetype building structures located in a high seismic region are studied, namely steel diagrid and special reinforced concrete structures. The results show that maximum absolute floor acceleration is the most accurate demand parameter for locating damage whereas maximum floor displacement and interstory drift ratio can effectively detect and measure damages.

Community Preparedness on Transboundary Oil Spill Governance in Bintan Island

The waters of the Kepulauan Riau have a strategic position, the entry and exit point of the Malacca Strait and connecting Middle Eastern which known as oil producer countries regions and East Asian Industrial countries. The main role to guard the environment and implement the government policies is the local community in the border area. This study applied quantitative method to investigate public perceptions towards oil waste-related issues by identifying knowledge, attitude, perception about impact and future condition foreseeing, attribution of responsibility, political perception, and political attitudes. KMO Measure of Sampling value is greater than. 5 (KMO = .672) and indicates the research instrument was meritorious and statistically significant (<.001). In term of political perception and attitude, we found a high positive correlation (Pearson’s R=.700, p=<.001) between the two variables. High score in attribution of responsibility to TNI indicates a potential further analysis on behalf of securitization theory from Copenhagen School of International Security and International Relations. Respondents tend to believe and demand that security sector must take a major role within the issues since a normal political process was perceived to be not quite enough to overcome the problems. It means that securitization will be perceived to succeed in the bilateral or trilateral framework instead of multilateral one.

Pengaruh dari Kedaulatan Negara Terhadap Pelaksanaan Mekanisme Kerjasama ASEAN dalam Pemberantasan Terorisme

This paper focuses on the sovereignty of the state and its influence on the implementation of ASEAN cooperation mechanisms in combating terrorism.State sovereignty tends to obstruct the counter-terrorism effort. The difficulty of gaining consensus has temporarily encouraged member countries to enable bilateral or trilateral framework options, which are less productive of regional insight development efforts. The consensus mechanism causes in any degree the handling of terrorism issues in ASEAN will only be possible if the parties agree. This is what then makes the implementation of the agreement in ASEAN to be slow and even not run.

Japan–South Korea Security Cooperation: Sisyphus Getting Muscles?

This article aims to assess the progress of the ROK-Japan security cooperation in recent years, both in the bilateral and trilateral framework involving the United States. It argues that the unprecedented progress in North Korea’s nuclear program, along with a constant U.S. persuasion, led to a certain political convergence to allow and accompany the security cooperation. This said, political mistrust, asymmetric expectations and diverging perspectives still persist, explaining why the cooperation is mainly taking place within the trilateral framework. Nevertheless, the latest set of dialogue, exchanges and joint exercises did build up confidence and highlighted the benefit of an expanded cooperation while pushing the two countries to seriously consider the concrete issues, conditions and implications of such cooperation. The paper concludes that the recent progress in the security cooperation is still fragile and dependent on external factors, even if it is pointing to a greater understanding.

Cyprus's Natural Gas Strategy: Geopolitical and Economic Preconditions

Optimism arose about the discovery of Cypriot and Israeli gas reserves and how they might help resolve the Cyprus question, but the prospective monetization of these reserves has not modified Turkish or Turkish-Cypriot behavior vis-à-vis the Republic of Cyprus, despite Greek-Cypriot hopes. The gas discoveries were not the principal motivation behind the Greek and Greek-Cypriot attempts to establish a trilateral framework of structured cooperation with Israel and Egypt. The export of Cypriot gas to Egyptian liquefied natural gas facilities, however, is the only realistic option available to Nicosia that could also have a positive geopolitical impact on the trilateral framework and help reduce European Union gas dependence on Russia, although the reduction would be quite limited in the short to medium term. The revenues from the monetization of Cypriot gas reserves may be significant for the Cypriot economy, amounting to approximately 2 percent of its gross domestic product, but these direct benefits will materialize gradually over a period of fifteen years and will not be available in time to influence the ongoing talks for the resolution of the Cyprus question.

Working at Cross Purposes: How National Security Strategies Undermine North American Regional Security

North American Regional Security: A Trilateral Framework? By Richard J. Kilroy Jr, Abelardo Rodriguez Sumano, Todd S. Hataley. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2012. 255 pp., $58.50 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-1-58826-854-9). The authors of North American Regional Security: A Trilateral Framework? analyze the current state of security in North America, bringing together two major theoretical frameworks in their innovative study: Buzan and Weaver's regional security complex theory (RSCT), and a constructivist approach based on what the authors term the “three I's—Institutions, Identity and Interests” (p. 10). These concepts serve to determine the unit of analysis (North America, defined as Canada, the United States, and Mexico) and to answer the study's central question, is there a trilateral security framework in North America? To answer this question, the authors revisit the historical “construction of security” in the three North American countries. They conclude that each country arrived at an internal or domestic logic in regard to its national security that is, and has been, difficult to reconcile with those of their two neighbors. The American culture of security is global in scope; Canada primarily takes a defensive posture; and Mexico's culture of security is acutely aware of …

North American Regional Security: A Trilateral Framework. By Richard J. Kilroy, Jr., Abelardo Rodriquez Sumano, and Todd S. Hataley, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Press, 2013.

North American Regional Security: A Trilateral Framework. By Richard J. Kilroy, Jr., Abelardo Rodriquez Sumano, and Todd S. Hataley, Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Press, 2013.

Counter-Terrorism and Institutional Design

North American Regional Security: A Trilateral Framework? By Richard J. Kilroy Jr., Abelardo Rodriguez Sumano, Todd S. Hataley. Boulder: Lynne Rienner, 2013. 255 pp., $58.50 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-1-588-26854-9). 9/11 and the Design of Counterterrorism Institutions. By Karlsson Michael. Surrey: Ashgate, 2012. 195 pp., $94.95 hardcover (ISBN-13: 978-1-409-43456-6). These books address the question of the development of counter-terrorism institutions from opposite scales. 9/11 and the Design of Counterterrorism Institutions is a microlevel investigation of counter-terrorism policy in Northern Europe in the first weeks after 9/11. North American Regional Security , by contrast, looks at the development of regional security institutions in North America at a macrolevel, over the long term. Reviewing the two books together shows the different conclusions that can be drawn from these disparate analyses, and how they contribute to the research program of understanding counter-terrorism institutions. The first months after 9/11 were characterized by an intensive period of institution building that, in some cases, constituted a significant restructuring of government. Not surprisingly, much of the early analysis of this period was punditry rather than social science. With a decade of hindsight, however, political scientists have begun to use their theoretical tools to analyze the creation, structure, and functioning of those institutional and political changes. These books are part of that research program, drawing on theories about institutional design ( 9/11 and the Design of Counterterrorism Institutions ) and regional security complex theory ( North American Regional Security ). While it would be impossible to expect any single research project to incorporate both a micro- and a macroperspective, the insights from each could be fruitfully applied into the other in order to provide a fuller perspective. Regional security complex theory, which Richard Kilroy, Abelardo Rodriguez Sumano, and Todd Hataley use to analyze North American security, is part of Buzan and Waever's attempt to further integrate the constructivist bent of their securitization theory with the recognition that the regional, and the material, still matter (2003; see also Lake and Morgan 1997). They borrow Buzan and Waever's definition of a regional security complex as “a set of units whose major processes …

North American regional security: a trilateral framework?

North American regional security: a trilateral framework?

Establishing a transboundary network of marine protected areas: Diplomatic and management options for the east African context

Abstract International conservation efforts and cooperation are increasingly necessary, particularly at an ecoregion level, for the achievement of international targets for protecting biodiversity and degradation of ecosystems. Whereas more than 11 percent of land is protected, less than 1 percent of marine space is similarly protected. Transboundary networks of marine protected areas and transboundary marine protected areas (TBMPAs) are an essential form of cooperation for meeting these international targets. This paper explores the diplomatic and political options for regional and sub-regional cooperation between Tanzania, Mozambique, and South Africa, for the establishment of transboundary conservation mechanisms in the Eastern African Marine Ecoregion (EAME). Five options for the establishment and management of these mechanisms are presented, together with actions to be taken to facilitate cooperation. The paper deal with a proposed strategy for the implementation of transboundary conservation mechanisms, focusing on TBMPAs, between the three countries at a biogeographical/sub-regional level, supported by lessons learnt in other transboundary marine conservation experiences. The paper concludes that although political will may exist among States sharing borders to establish TBMPAs, the complexity of dealing with sub-regional realities is a difficult obstacle to overcome in a single step. The situation at each border must be taken into account in order that different multi-scale and multivariate solutions, supported by a common baseline will ultimately converge in a common trilateral framework. Finally, a two-step approach seems to be in course with the declaration (October 2009) of a TBMPA linking Ponta do Ouro in Mozambique to iSimangaliso Wetland Park in South Africa, following one of the options formerly presented.

The plutonium connection: energy and arms

The opportunity to halt nuclear proliferation dims as commercial rivalries and disputes over the fast breeder reactor isolate the US from Japan and the Western world, and a solution to the radioactive waste problem becomes more remote. Strong political counterforces have slowed breeder reactor development and fuel reprocessing in the US while other countries proceeded with nonmilitary reprocessing by the Purex method and commercial-size breeder reactors. The International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation (INFE) included 66 nations and five international organizations in a comparison and evaluation of fuel-cycle concepts in terms of economic, environmental, and weapons-proliferation issues. Alternatives to the Purex process include Civex processing and multinational spent-fuel-storage schemes. Only the Candu reactor has led a nation (India) to closing the fuel cycle to produce weapons-grade material and no weapon capability can be traced to nuclear power production. The Non-Proliferation Treaty seeks to reduce both the incentives and the opportunities for this to happen. Japan and West Europe question US motives for the six-year decline in US nuclear power plant ordering since US nuclear weaponry is tied to reprocessing, but the US continues to supply over 75% of the enrichment services on the export market. The trend toward militarization of themore » trilateral framework makes it inadequate to control proliferation and will continue to breed international crises as East-West relations deteriorate. 21 references. (DCK)« less