Common Application (common + application)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Long-term study of a portable field robot in urban terrain

JOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS (FORMERLY JOURNAL OF ROBOTIC SYSTEMS), Issue 8-9 2007
Carl Lundberg
The armed forces have a considerable amount of experience in using robots for bomb removal and mine clearing. Emerging technology also enables the targeting of other applications. To evaluate if real deployment of new technology is justified, tactical advantages gained have to be compared to drawbacks imposed. Evaluation calls for realistic tests which in turn require methods dictating how to deploy the new features. The present study has had two objectives: first, to gain a comprehensive view of a potential user of man-portable robots; second, to embed a robot system with users for assessment of present technology in real deployment. In this project we investigated an army company specialized in urban operations performing their tasks with the support of the iRobot Packbot Scout. The robot was integrated and deployed as an ordinary piece of equipment which required modifying and retraining a number of standard behaviors. The reported results were acquired through a long-term test ranging over a period of six months. This paper focuses on the characteristics of the users and their current ways of operation; how the robot was implemented and deployed. Additionally, this paper describes benefits and drawbacks from the users' perspective. A number of limitations in current robot technology are also identified. The findings show that the military relies on precise and thoroughly trained actions that can be executed with a minimum of ambiguity. To make use of robots, new behavioral schemes, which call for tactical optimization over several years, are needed. The most common application during the trials was reconnaissance inside buildings with uncertain enemy presence when time was not critical. Deploying the robot took more time than completing the task by traditional means, but in return kept the soldiers out of harm's way and enabled them to decrease weapon deployment. The range of the radio link, limited video feedback, and the bulky operator control unit were the features constraining the system's overall performance the most. On the other hand, did properties of the system, such as ruggedness, size, weight, terrain ability, and endurance, prove to match the application. The users were of the opinion that robots such as the Packbot Scout would be a valuable standard feature in urban intervention. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source]


THE EFFECT OF MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGING ON THE QUALITY AND SHELF LIFE OF FRANKFURTER TYPE-SAUSAGES

JOURNAL OF FOOD QUALITY, Issue 2010
NALAN GOKOGLU
ABSTRACT The effects of modified atmosphere packaging on the quality and shelf life of frankfurter-type sausages, prepared exclusively from beef meat, were investigated. Sausages were packed under varying modified atmosphere conditions (30% CO2/70% N2; 70% CO2/30% N2; 100% CO2; 80% CO2/20% O2) and vacuum, and stored at 4C for 28 days. Lower pH values were observed in the samples packed under modified atmospheres compared to vacuum. Inhibition effect of carbon dioxide concentration on the oxidation was seen. Carbon dioxide caused microbial inhibition. The lowest total viable count was found in the samples packed under 100% CO2. It was concluded that modified atmosphere packaging had significant effect on the quality and shelf life of frankfurter-type sausages compared to vacuum packaging. The most suitable atmosphere among the tested atmospheres was that with 70% CO2, 30% N2 atmosphere. The shelf life of sausages under this atmosphere was 28 days. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS Meat and meat products are susceptible to spoilage. Several preservation techniques are used to extend their shelf life. Packaging of fresh meat is a common application to protect its quality. Modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) means to replace the air in a package of food with some different mixture of gases. The success in MAP is to choose the suitable gas combination, packaging system, package application and the package material. Proper gas combination to keep meat quality should be provided. Several studies have been performed to extent shelf life of pork sausages and local-type sausages using modified atmosphere packaging technique. However there is no data on beef sausages. The results of this research will form the basis for further studies and also will be beneficial for industry. [source]


Generalized Hierarchical Multivariate CAR Models for Areal Data

BIOMETRICS, Issue 4 2005
Xiaoping Jin
Summary In the fields of medicine and public health, a common application of areal data models is the study of geographical patterns of disease. When we have several measurements recorded at each spatial location (for example, information on p, 2 diseases from the same population groups or regions), we need to consider multivariate areal data models in order to handle the dependence among the multivariate components as well as the spatial dependence between sites. In this article, we propose a flexible new class of generalized multivariate conditionally autoregressive (GMCAR) models for areal data, and show how it enriches the MCAR class. Our approach differs from earlier ones in that it directly specifies the joint distribution for a multivariate Markov random field (MRF) through the specification of simpler conditional and marginal models. This in turn leads to a significant reduction in the computational burden in hierarchical spatial random effect modeling, where posterior summaries are computed using Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC). We compare our approach with existing MCAR models in the literature via simulation, using average mean square error (AMSE) and a convenient hierarchical model selection criterion, the deviance information criterion (DIC; Spiegelhalter et al., 2002, Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, Series B64, 583,639). Finally, we offer a real-data application of our proposed GMCAR approach that models lung and esophagus cancer death rates during 1991,1998 in Minnesota counties. [source]


Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization (FISH) in Diagnostic and Investigative Neuropathology

BRAIN PATHOLOGY, Issue 1 2002
Christine E. Fuller MD;
Over the last decade, fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) has emerged as a powerful clinical and research tool for the assessment of target DNA dosages within interphase nuclei. Detectable alterations include aneusomies, deletions, gene amplifications, and translocations, with primary advantages to the pathologist including its basis in morphology, its applicability to archival, formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) material, and its similarities to immunohistochemistry. Recent technical advances such as improved hybridization protocols, markedly expanded probe availability resulting from the human genome sequencing initiative, and the advent of high-throughput assays such as gene chip and tissue microarrays have greatly enhanced the applicability of FISH. In our lab, we currently utilize only a limited battery of DNA probes for routine diagnostic purposes, with determination of chromosome 1p and 19q dosage in oligodendroglial neoplasms representing the most common application. However, research applications are numerous and will likely translate into a growing list of clinically useful markers in the near future. In this review, we highlight the advantages and disadvantages of FISH and familiarize the reader with current applications in diagnostic and investigative neuropathology. [source]


High-speed crystal detection and characterization using a fast-readout detector

ACTA CRYSTALLOGRAPHICA SECTION D, Issue 9 2010
Jun Aishima
A novel raster-scanning method combining continuous sample translation with the fast readout of a Pilatus P6M detector has been developed on microfocus beamline I24 at Diamond Light Source. This fast grid-scan tool allows the rapid evaluation of large sample volumes without the need to increase the beam size at the sample through changes in beamline hardware. A slow version is available for slow-readout detectors. Examples of grid-scan use in centring optically invisible samples and in detecting and characterizing numerous microcrystals on a mesh-like holder illustrate the most common applications of the grid scan now in routine use on I24. [source]