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Traditional Technologies (traditional + technology)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Humanities and Social Sciences	28%

Selected Abstracts

REMEDIATION AND LOCAL GLOBALIZATIONS: How Taiwan's "Digital Video Knights-Errant Puppetry" Writes the History of the New Media in Chinese

CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 2 2007
TERI SILVIO
This article analyzes the Pili International Multimedia Company's "digital video knights-errant puppetry" serials, a popular culture genre unique to Taiwan, to answer two questions. First, how do digital technologies, originally developed to meet the needs of the American military and entertainment industries, become embedded in a different cultural context? Second, how does this embedding allow media technologies to become something through which distinctly local models of globalization itself may be imagined? Analyzing both the style of the serials and the discourse of producers and fans, I argue that new media technologies, despite their foreign origins, may not only be adapted or resisted, but may also come to be imagined as emerging from local aesthetics and local needs. Through the specific ways they utilize both digital and traditional technologies, the Pili producers and fans construct a utopian vision of what globalization might look like if Taiwan were at the center. [source]

Desert water harvesting from takyr surfaces: assessing the potential of traditional and experimental technologies in the Karakum

LAND DEGRADATION AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 1 2007
L. Fleskens
Abstract From historical times the traditionally nomadic people in desert environments of Turkmenistan have applied a range of innovative technologies to secure water supply for consumptive and productive purposes. These technologies make use of takyrs, flat or slightly sloping dense clay surfaces which act as natural catchment areas. In recent history, these technologies have been neglected, in part due to a booming water supply through irrigation development, and takyr surfaces have suffered various degradation processes. However, the limited scope for further extension of irrigation systems presents a challenge to reconsider these traditional technologies. In this paper, results of cost-benefit analysis are presented by which an assessment is made of the potential of both traditional and experimental takyr use technologies. It is shown that they bear considerable potential for the future at relatively low investment cost, that they may help limit degradation processes and provide for a sustainable development pathway for the inhabitants of the desert. A main challenge in order to benefit from this potential is to find an appropriate management structure for maintenance and resource use of these water-harvesting technologies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

The Effect of "Front-Loading" Problem-Solving on Product Development Performance

THE JOURNAL OF PRODUCT INNOVATION MANAGEMENT, Issue 2 2000
Stefan Thomke
In recent years, there has been a growing interest in the link between problem-solving capabilities and product development performance. In this article, the authors apply a problem-solving perspective to the management of product development and suggest how shifting the identification and solving of problems,a concept that they define as front-loading,can reduce development time and cost and thus free up resources to be more innovative in the marketplace. The authors develop a framework of front-loading problem-solving and present related examples and case evidence from development practice. These examples include Boeing's and Chrysler's experience with the use of "digital mock-ups" to identify interference problems that are very costly to solve if identified further downstream,sometimes as late as during or,after first full-scale assembly. In the article, the authors propose that front-loading can be achieved using a number of different approaches, two of which are discussed in detail: (1) project-to-project knowledge transfer,leverage previous projects by transferring problem and solution-specific information to new projects; and (2) rapid problem-solving,leverage advanced technologies and methods to increase the overall rate at which development problems are identified and solved. Methods for improving project-to-project knowledge transfer include the effective use of "postmortems," which are records of post-project learning and thus can be instrumental in carrying forward the knowledge from current and past projects. As the article suggests, rapid problem-solving can be achieved by optimally combining new technologies (such as computer simulation) that allow for faster problem-solving cycles with traditional technologies (such as late stage prototypes), which usually provide higher fidelity. A field study of front-loading at Toyota Motor Corporation shows how a systematic effort to front-load its development process has, in effect, shifted problem-identification and problem-solving to earlier stages of product development. They conclude the article with a discussion of other approaches to front-load problem-solving in product development and propose how a problem-solving perspective can help managers to build capabilities for higher development performance. [source]

Anaerobic biodegradation of two-phase olive mill solid wastes and liquid effluents: kinetic studies and process performance

JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY & BIOTECHNOLOGY, Issue 9 2006
Rafael Borja
Abstract The new two-phase olive oil mills produce three identifiable and separate waste streams, namely (1) the wash waters from the initial cleansing of the fruit, (2) the aqueous solid residues from the primary centrifugation and (3) the wash waters from the secondary centrifugation. As well as offering process advantages, they also consume less water. Therefore the solid residue, two-phase olive mill solid waste (OMSW), has a high organic matter concentration, giving it an elevated polluting load, and cannot be easily handled by traditional technology which deals with the conventional three-phase olive cake. In addition, the new two-phase olive mill effluents (TPOME) are made up of a mixture of effluents (1) and (3), the total volume of TPOME generated being ,0.25 dm3 kg,1 olives processed. This review aims to report the main features and characteristics of two-phase OMSW and TPOME as compared with the classical olive cake and olive mill wastewater (OMW) derived from the three-phase manufacturing process. The advantages and disadvantages of the two-phase decanting process are summarised. The anaerobic digestibility of two-phase OMSW using different influent substrate concentrations is reported. Kinetic studies of anaerobic digestion of two-phase OMSW are also reviewed and summarised, as well as mass balances to predict the behaviour of the reactor and simplified kinetic models for studying the hydrolysis, acidogenic and methanogenic steps of one- and two-stage anaerobic digestion of OMSW. The review also includes the following: assays of anaerobic digestion of wastewaters from the washing of olives, of olive oil and the two together using fluidised beds and hybrid reactors; the kinetics, performance, stability, purification efficiencies and methane yield coefficients. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry [source]

Management-Based Regulation: Prescribing Private Management to Achieve Public Goals

LAW & SOCIETY REVIEW, Issue 4 2003
Cary Coglianese
We analyze a little-studied regulatory approach that we call management-based regulation. Management-based regulation directs regulated organizations to engage in a planning process that aims toward the achievement of public goals, offering firms flexibility in how they achieve public goals. In this article, we develop a framework for assessing conditions for using management-based regulation as opposed to the more traditional technology-based or performance-based regulation. Drawing on case studies of management-based regulation in the areas of food safety, industrial safety, and environmental protection, we show how management-based regulation can be an effective strategy when regulated entities are heterogeneous and regulatory outputs are relatively difficult to monitor. In addition to analyzing conditions for the use of management-based regulation, we assess the range of choices regulators confront in designing management-based regulations. We conclude that management-based regulation requires a far more complex intertwining of the public and private sectors than is typical of other forms of regulation, owing to regulators' need to intervene at multiple stages of the production process as well as to the degree of ambiguity over what constitutes "good management." [source]

Cluster computing for digital microscopy

MICROSCOPY RESEARCH AND TECHNIQUE, Issue 2 2004
Walter A. Carrington
Abstract Microscopy is becoming increasingly digital and dependent on computation. Some of the computational tasks in microscopy are computationally intense, such as image restoration (deconvolution), some optical calculations, image segmentation, and image analysis. Several modern microscope technologies enable the acquisition of very large data sets. 3D imaging of live cells over time, multispectral imaging, very large tiled 3D images of thick samples, or images from high throughput biology all can produce extremely large images. These large data sets place a very large burden on laboratory computer resources. This combination of computationally intensive tasks and larger data sizes can easily exceed the capability of single personal computers. The large multiprocessor computers that are the traditional technology for larger tasks are too expensive for most laboratories. An alternative approach is to use a number of inexpensive personal computers as a cluster; that is, use multiple networked computers programmed to run the problem in parallel on all the computers in the cluster. By the use of relatively inexpensive over-the-counter hardware and open source software, this approach can be much more cost effective for many tasks. We discuss the different computer architectures available, and their advantages and disadvantages. Microsc. Res. Tech. 64:204,213, 2004. © 2004 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Urban Space and the Mediation of Political Action in Nepal: Local Television, Ritual Processions and Political Violence as Technologies of Enchantment

THE AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF ANTHROPOLOGY, Issue 1 2008
Michael Wilmore
This paper examines how political identities in the town of Tansen in the central western district of Palpa, Nepal, are mediated by contrasting forms of cultural and material practice: religious and secular processions and programs made by a local, cable-television production organisation. These practices and their materiality are conceptualised as ,technologies of enchantment' (Gell 1992) through which political culture is made manifest in urban space. Paradigmatically ,modern' and ,traditional' technologies are juxtaposed in order to analyse the different ways that political action is embodied within the community. The loss of life in Tansen and the destruction of buildings associated with these practices in the course of the 10-year Maoist insurgency provide a tragic confirmation of the conclusions reached in this paper. [source]