Latin American critical (‘Social’) epidemiology: new settings for an old dream

The present paper offers a fresh perspective from the South about the relevance of progressive Latin American public health (termed ‘collective health’) by highlighting a number of its hard scientific contributions which, unfortunately, remain almost unknown to mainstream medical and public health researchers outside Latin America. An armed form of structural greed has now placed the world on the brink of destruction. At the same time, however, fresh winds blow in the continent. This paper is an invitation to confront the menacing forces producing our unhealthy societies and an opportunity to form fraternal partnerships on the intercultural road to a better world, where only an epidemiology of dignity and happiness will make sense.

Pose Refinement of Active Models using Forces in 3D

A new algorithm is described for refining the pose of a model of a rigid object, to conform more accurately to the image structure. Elemental 3D forces are considered to act on the model. These are derived from directional derivatives of the image local to the projected model features. The convergence properties of the algorithm is investigated and compared to a previous technique. Its use in a video sequence of a cluttered outdoor traffic scene is also illustrated and assessed.

Forces information and media services in Operation Granby 1990-91

The paper looks at the setting up of media services for British Army forces engaged in Operation Granby, the British participation in Operation Desert Storm, the liberation of Kuwait from Iraqi occupation in 1991. In particular, the piece focuses on the creation of a force newspaper and radio station.There is far more involved in the organisation of modern war than simply battles themselves One aspect is the importance of creating and maintaining morale, which can be achieved in a number of ways, especially by keeping troops informed of their progress, purpose and mission as operations unfold. This was specifically recognised by commanders in the Gulf War, who ensured the smooth transmission of information by the provision of media services for forces personnel throughout the War. Here S J Anglim concentrates on the difficulties inherent in setting up and running the Gulf Forces newspaper, The Sandy Times, a Radio service and producing video reviews, all of which played their part in ensunng high morale. He concludes that there are lessons to be learnt and implemented for the success of any future conflicts.

MI(R,)G(R) and British Covert Operations, 1939-42

The Military Intelligence (Research) Department of the British War Office was tasked in 1940 with encouraging and supporting armed resistance in occupied Europe and the Axis-controlled Middle East. The major contention of this paper is that, in doing so, MI(R) performed a key role in British strategy in 1940-42 and in the development of what are now known as covert operations. MI(R) developed an organic, but coherent doctrine for such activity which was influential upon the Special Operations Executive (SOE) and its own sub-branch, G(R), which applied this doctrine in practice in East Africa and the Middle East in 1940-41. It was also here that a number of key figures in the development of covert operations and special forces first cut their teeth, the most notable being Major Generals Colin Gubbins and Orde Wingate.

Impedance mismatch: some differences between the way humans and robots control interaction forces

In over forty years of research robots have made very little progress still largely confined to industrial manufacture and cute toys, yet in the same period computing has followed Moores Law where the capacity double roughly every two years. So why is there no Moores Law for robots? Two areas stand out as worthy of research to speedup progress. The first is to get a greater understanding of how human and animal brains control movement, the second to build a new generation of robots that have greater haptic sense, that is a better ability to adapt to the environment as it is encountered. A remarkable property of the cognitive-motor system in humans and animals is that it is slow. Recognising an object may take 250 mS, a reaction time of 150 mS is considered fast. Yet despite this slow system we are well designed to allow contact with the world in a variety of ways. We can anticipate an encounter, use the change of force as a means of communication and ignore sensory cues when they are not relevant. A better understanding of these process has allowed us to build haptic interfaces to mimic the interaction. Emerging from this understanding are new ways to control the contact between robots, the user and the environment. Rehabilitation robotics has all the elements in the subject to not only enable and change the lives of people with disabilities, but also to facilitate revolution change in classic robotics.

Small wars in the age of Clausewitz: the watershed between partisan war and people's war

Around the time of Clausewitz’s writing, a new element was introduced into partisan warfare: ideology. Previously, under the ancien régime, partisans were what today we would call special forces, light infantry or cavalry, almost always mercenaries, carrying out special operations, while the main action in war took place between regular armies. Clausewitz lectured his students on such ‘small wars’. In the American War of Independence and the resistance against Napoleon and his allies, operations carried out by such partisans merged with counter-revolutionary, nationalist insurgencies, but these Clausewitz analysed in a distinct category, ‘people's war’. Small wars, people's war, etc. should thus not be thought of as monopoly of either the political Right or the Left.

The budget and the WTO: driving forces behind the ‘Health Check’?

The chapter examines the evidence for budget concerns or external (WTO) pressures being the drivers for the 'Health Check' reform of the European Union's common agricultural policy.