Towards a modular robotics standard for AGV design and programming

Across the world there are many bodies currently involved in researching into the design of autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs). One of the greatest problems at present however, is that much of the research work is being conducted in isolated groups, with the resulting AGVs sensor/control/command systems being almost completely nontransferable to other AGV designs. This paper describes a new modular method for robot design which when applied to AGVs overcomes the above problems. The method is explained here with respect to all forms of robotics but the examples have been specifically chosen to reflect typical AGV systems.

Fully automated software solution for protein quantitation by global metabolic labeling with stable isotopes

Metabolic stable isotope labeling is increasingly employed for accurate protein (and metabolite) quantitation using mass spectrometry (MS). It provides sample-specific isotopologues that can be used to facilitate comparative analysis of two or more samples. Stable Isotope Labeling by Amino acids in Cell culture (SILAC) has been used for almost a decade in proteomic research and analytical software solutions have been established that provide an easy and integrated workflow for elucidating sample abundance ratios for most MS data formats. While SILAC is a discrete labeling method using specific amino acids, global metabolic stable isotope labeling using isotopes such as (15)N labels the entire element content of the sample, i.e. for (15)N the entire peptide backbone in addition to all nitrogen-containing side chains. Although global metabolic labeling can deliver advantages with regard to isotope incorporation and costs, the requirements for data analysis are more demanding because, for instance for polypeptides, the mass difference introduced by the label depends on the amino acid composition. Consequently, there has been less progress on the automation of the data processing and mining steps for this type of protein quantitation. Here, we present a new integrated software solution for the quantitative analysis of protein expression in differential samples and show the benefits of high-resolution MS data in quantitative proteomic analyses.

Evaluating the effects of tannins on the extent and rate of in vitro measured gas and methane production using the Automated Pressure Evaluation System (APES)

An in vitro study was conducted to investigate the effect of tannins on the extent and rate of gas and methane production, using an automated pressure evaluation system (APES). In this study three condensed tannins (CT; quebracho, grape seed and green tea tannins) and four hydrolysable tannins (HT; tara, valonea, myrabolan and chestnut tannins) were evaluated, with lucerne as a control substrate. CT and HT were characterised by matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Tannins were added to the substrate at an effective concentration of 100 g/kg either with or without polyethylene glycol (PEG6000), and incubated for 72 h in pooled, buffered rumen liquid from four lactating dairy cows. After inoculation, fermentation bottles were immediately connected to the APES to measure total cumulative gas production (GP). During the incubation, 11 gas samples were collected from each bottle at 0, 1, 4, 7, 11, 15, 23, 30, 46, 52 and 72 h of incubation and analysed for methane. A modified Michaelis-Menten model was fitted to the methane concentration patterns and model estimates were used to calculate the total cumulative methane production (GPCH4). GP and GPCH4 curves were fitted using a modified monophasic Michaelis-Menten model. Addition of quebracho reduced GP (P=0.002), whilst the other tannins did not affect GP. Addition of PEG increased GP for quebracho (P=0.003), valonea (P=0.058) and grape seed tannins (P=0.071), suggesting that these tannins either inhibited or tended to inhibit fermentation. Addition of quebracho and grape seed tannins also reduced (P≤0.012) the maximum rate of gas production, indicating that microbial activity was affected. Quebracho, valonea, myrabolan and grape seed decreased (P≤0.003) GPCH4 and the maximum rate (0.001≤ P≤ 0.102) of CH4 production. Addition of chestnut, green tea and tara tannins did not affect total gas nor methane production. Valonea and myrabolan tannins have most promise for reducing methane production as they had only a minor impact on gas production.

Automated tertiary structure prediction with accurate local model quality assessment using the IntFOLD-TS method

The IntFOLD-TS method was developed according to the guiding principle that the model quality assessment would be the most critical stage for our template based modelling pipeline. Thus, the IntFOLD-TS method firstly generates numerous alternative models, using in-house versions of several different sequence-structure alignment methods, which are then ranked in terms of global quality using our top performing quality assessment method – ModFOLDclust2. In addition to the predicted global quality scores, the predictions of local errors are also provided in the resulting coordinate files, using scores that represent the predicted deviation of each residue in the model from the equivalent residue in the native structure. The IntFOLD-TS method was found to generate high quality 3D models for many of the CASP9 targets, whilst also providing highly accurate predictions of their per-residue errors. This important information may help to make the 3D models that are produced by the IntFOLD-TS method more useful for guiding future experimental work

An automated calibration method for non-see-through head mounted displays

Accurate calibration of a head mounted display (HMD) is essential both for research on the visual system and for realistic interaction with virtual objects. Yet, existing calibration methods are time consuming and depend on human judgements, making them error prone, and are often limited to optical see-through HMDs. Building on our existing approach to HMD calibration Gilson et al. (2008), we show here how it is possible to calibrate a non-see-through HMD. A camera is placed inside a HMD displaying an image of a regular grid, which is captured by the camera. The HMD is then removed and the camera, which remains fixed in position, is used to capture images of a tracked calibration object in multiple positions. The centroids of the markers on the calibration object are recovered and their locations re-expressed in relation to the HMD grid. This allows established camera calibration techniques to be used to recover estimates of the HMD display's intrinsic parameters (width, height, focal length) and extrinsic parameters (optic centre and orientation of the principal ray). We calibrated a HMD in this manner and report the magnitude of the errors between real image features and reprojected features. Our calibration method produces low reprojection errors without the need for error-prone human judgements.

Cost733cat: a database of weather and circulation type classifications

A new database of weather and circulation type catalogs is presented comprising 17 automated classification methods and five subjective classifications. It was compiled within COST Action 733 "Harmonisation and Applications of Weather Type Classifications for European regions" in order to evaluate different methods for weather and circulation type classification. This paper gives a technical description of the included methods using a new conceptual categorization for classification methods reflecting the strategy for the definition of types. Methods using predefined types include manual and threshold based classifications while methods producing types derived from the input data include those based on eigenvector techniques, leader algorithms and optimization algorithms. In order to allow direct comparisons between the methods, the circulation input data and the methods' configuration were harmonized for producing a subset of standard catalogs of the automated methods. The harmonization includes the data source, the climatic parameters used, the classification period as well as the spatial domain and the number of types. Frequency based characteristics of the resulting catalogs are presented, including variation of class sizes, persistence, seasonal and inter-annual variability as well as trends of the annual frequency time series. The methodological concept of the classifications is partly reflected by these properties of the resulting catalogs. It is shown that the types of subjective classifications compared to automated methods show higher persistence, inter-annual variation and long-term trends. Among the automated classifications optimization methods show a tendency for longer persistence and higher seasonal variation. However, it is also concluded that the distance metric used and the data preprocessing play at least an equally important role for the properties of the resulting classification compared to the algorithm used for type definition and assignment.

Non-standard working time: an international and comparative analysis

This paper uses the large-scale Cranet data to explore the extent of non-standard working time (NSWT) across Europe and to highlight the contrasts and similarities between two different varieties of capitalism (coordinated market economies and liberal market economies). We explore variations in the extent of different forms of NSWT (overtime, shift working and weekend working) within these two different forms of capitalism, controlling for firm size, sector and the extent of employee voice. Overall, there was no strong link between the variety of capitalism and the use of overtime and weekend working though shift working showed a clear distinction between the two varieties of capitalism. Usage of NSWT in some service sectors was particularly high under both forms of capitalism and service sector activities had a particularly marked influence on the use of overtime in liberal market economies. Surprisingly, strong employee voice was associated with greater use of NSWT.

Automated organizational network analysis for enterprise 2.0

Social Networking Sites have recently become a mainstream communications technology for many people around the world. Major IT vendors are releasing social software designed for use in a business/commercial context. These Enterprise 2.0 technologies have impressive collaboration and information sharing functionality, but so far they do not have any organizational network analysis (ONA) features that reveal any patterns of connectivity within business units. This paper shows the impact of organizational network analysis techniques and social networks on organizational performance, we also give an overview on current enterprise social software, and most importantly, we highlight how Enterprise 2.0 can help automate an organizational network analysis.

Changing standards revisited: children’s awareness and knowledge of features of written standard English at ages 10-11

This paper reports the findings of a small-scale research project which investigated the levels of awareness and knowledge of written standard English of 10 and 11 year old children in two English primary schools. The project involved repeating in 2010 a written questionnaire previously used with children in the same schools in three separate surveys in 1999, 2002 and 2005. Data from the latest survey are compared to those from the previous three. The analysis seeks to identify any changes over time in children’s ability to recognise non-standard forms and supply standard English alternatives, as well as their ability to use technical terms related to language variation. Differences between the performance of boys and girls and that of the two schools are also analysed. The paper concludes that the socio-economic context of the schools may be a more important factor than gender in variations over time identified in the data.

Does SMS text messaging help or harm adults’ knowledge of standard spelling?

The recent increase in short messaging system (SMS) text messaging, often using abbreviated, non-conventional ‘textisms’ (e.g. ‘2nite’), in school-aged children has raised fears of negative consequences of such technology for literacy. The current research used a paradigm developed by Dixon and Kaminska, who showed that exposure to phonetically plausible misspellings (e.g. ‘recieve’) negatively affected subsequent spelling performance, though this was true only with adults, not children. The current research extends this work to directly investigate the effects of exposure to textisms, misspellings and correctly spelledwords on adults’ spelling. Spelling of a set of key words was assessed both before and after an exposure phase where participants read the same key words, presented either as textisms (e.g. ‘2nite’), correctly spelled (e.g. ‘tonight’) or misspelled (e.g. 'tonite’)words. Analysis showed that scores decreased from pre- to post-test following exposure to misspellings, whereas performance improved following exposure to correctly spelled words and, interestingly, to textisms. Data suggest that exposure to textisms, unlike misspellings, had a positive effect on adults’ spelling. These findings are interpreted in light of other recent research suggesting a positive relationship between texting and some literacy measures in school-aged children.

Energy policy and standard for built environment in China

Trends in China's energy future will have considerable consequences for both China and the global environment. Though China's carbon emissions are low on a per capita basis, China is already ranked the world's second largest producer of carbon, behind only America. China's buildings sector currently accounts for 23% of China's total energy use and is projected to increase to one-third by 2010. Energy policy plays an important role in China's sustainable development. The purpose of this study is to provide a broad overview of energy efficiency issues in the built environment in China. This paper, firstly briefly, reviews the key national policies related to the built environment and demonstrates the government's environmental concern. Secondly, the authors introduce recent energy policies in the built environment. Energy efficiency and renewable energy in the built environment, which are the key issues of the national energy policy, have been reviewed. Discussion of the implementation of energy policy has been carried out.