scholarly journals Bio-inspired life-like motile materials systems: Changing the boundaries between living and technical systems in the Anthropocene

2021 ◽  
pp. 205301962110392
Author(s):  
Thomas Speck ◽  
Simon Poppinga ◽  
Olga Speck ◽  
Falk Tauber

A current trend observed in the Anthropocene is the search for bioinspired solutions. Since it became possible to change the quality of the boundary between living and technical systems, more and more life-like technical products have been developed in recent years. Using five plant-inspired developments of motile technical systems for architecture and soft-robotics, we show how the boundary between living and technical systems undulates, shifts, perforates, blurs, or dissolves with increasing life-likeness. We discuss what causes theses changes in the boundary and how this contributes to the overall aim to achieve higher resilience, robustness, and improved esthetics of plant-inspired products. Inspiration from living systems that make efficient and economic use of materials and energy and are fully recyclable after “service time” may additionally contribute to sustainable material use, one of the major challenges in the Anthropocene.

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pham Van Phuc ◽  
Ngo Quang Son

Last time, management of equipment, maintenance and use of teaching equipment in lower secondary schools in Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province has been paid more attention, making important contributions to keeping sustainably, improve the quality of education in the district. Every year the lower secondary schools have been given funding and have plans to equip additional teaching equipment. Most lower secondary schools have full-time staff in charge of teaching equipment; with equipment storage rooms, cabinets are gradually added; laboratories and classrooms have been built more and more; have a system of records of teaching equipment management established; The work of inventorying and purifying teaching equipment periodically was also concerned. The movement of innovating teaching methods has made education managers and teachers more interested in using teaching equipment effectively. The positive management measures have caused many teachers to use teaching equipment as an integral part of the lesson, helping the quality of the lessons be increasingly improved to meet the requirements of changes. New teaching methods. Education administrators, teachers, teaching equipment staff are becoming more and more serious in teaching device management. However, the reality of teaching equipment management still reveals many limitations: The management of teaching equipment in schools is still administrative and ineffective. The equipment has no overall and detailed plans; The procurement of teaching equipment is not guaranteed in terms of quantity, lack of uniformity (some are redundant, some are lacking), quality is limited (durability, accuracy is not guaranteed, some new ones are not used); preservation still has many shortcomings; lack of specialized staff; lack of storage space or insufficient storage; lack of cabinets, prices, laboratories, subject classrooms; specially managing the use of teaching equipment is not tight; Many places teachers have not paid attention to use, ineffective use. The situation of “teaching vegetarianism” is still common, teaching equipment used is still movement, mostly used only in special cases such as competitions for good teachers, lectures or when there is a delegation check; There are many cases of information technology abuse in teaching. The effective use of teaching equipment oriented student capacity development is not much. The management of the use of teaching equipment oriented to develop student competencies in the current trend of Industry Revolution 4.0 is a matter of great concern to educational managers.Thus, the task of surveying the situation of managing the effective use of teaching equipment, finding subjective and objective reasons in order to propose measures to effectively manage the use of teaching equipment in the direction of developing students’ practical capacities and contributing to improving the quality of teaching in secondary schools in Dien Bien district, Dien Bien province is a very important and necessary task today.


2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sudip Bhattacharjee ◽  
Mario J. Maletta ◽  
Kimberly K. Moreno

ABSTRACT This study replicates Bhattacharjee, Maletta, and Moreno (2007), who find that audit preparers are susceptible to contrast effects in a multi-client environment. We demonstrate that auditors in the role of reviewers are also susceptible to contrast effects from a prior client. Audit reviewers' assessments of internal audit quality of a current client were significantly affected by the quality of the internal audit group of a client they previously reviewed. Specifically, when auditors first reviewed a client with a weak internal audit group they assessed the subsequent moderate internal audit group as being of higher quality than when they first reviewed a prior client with a strong internal audit group or did not review a prior client. Reviewers' documentation of evidence was also influenced by comparative information from the prior client. These results corroborate the key findings of Bhattacharjee et al. (2007) and confirm audit reviewers' susceptibility to contrast effects.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-18
Author(s):  
Jana Kohnová

This paper is concerned with concepts such as quality of education, evaluation of the standard of the work of the teacher and comparison of educational results. It points to the importance of standards and the difficulties involved in their implementation. It also discusses the concept of competence and its relevance to framework educational programmes and the further education of teachers. The paper also focuses on a number of trends in education that are less widely discussed: instability — permanent change, reduction of education, emphasis on topicality and practical applicability, underestimation of the system, etc. The final part of the paper presents a current project from the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport of the Czech Republic — a proposal for career progression.


Catalysts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 812
Author(s):  
Hoang Chinh Nguyen ◽  
My-Linh Nguyen ◽  
Chia-Hung Su ◽  
Hwai Chyuan Ong ◽  
Horng-Yi Juan ◽  
...  

Biodiesel is a promising alternative to fossil fuels and mainly produced from oils/fat through the (trans)esterification process. To enhance the reaction efficiency and simplify the production process, various catalysts have been introduced for biodiesel synthesis. Recently, the use of bio-derived catalysts has attracted more interest due to their high catalytic activity and ecofriendly properties. These catalysts include alkali catalysts, acid catalysts, and enzymes (biocatalysts), which are (bio)synthesized from various natural sources. This review summarizes the latest findings on these bio-derived catalysts, as well as their source and catalytic activity. The advantages and disadvantages of these catalysts are also discussed. These bio-based catalysts show a promising future and can be further used as a renewable catalyst for sustainable biodiesel production.


Author(s):  
Yu. I. Buryak ◽  
A. A. Skrynnikov

The article is devoted to the substantiation of the procedure for testing complex technical systems to assess the probability of performing the task, taking into account a priori data obtained from the results of modeling, field tests of components and prototypes, operation of analogues, etc. The conditions for the formation of a combined sample consisting of field experiments and experiments counted on the results of modeling are justified. Data uniformity is checked using the Student's criterion. The minimum volume of full-scale tests is determined by the requirement of equality of the amount of Fischer information about the estimated parameter obtained during full-scale tests and at the expense of a priori data A strategy for conducting field experiments is proposed, in which the required quality of evaluating the probability of completing the task is achieved with the minimum possible number of field experiments. At the first stage, a series of experiments with a volume equal to half of the required sample size is performed. At the second stage, the experiments are conducted sequentially with an assessment after each experiment of the requirements for the amount of information about the evaluated parameter and for the uniformity of data. Experiments are terminated when the specified requirements are met, and then a combined sample is formed, which is used to evaluate the probability of the system performing the task. A model example is considered. The estimation of the gain in the number of experiments performed at different probability values was carried out.


2018 ◽  
Vol 128 (3) ◽  
pp. 249-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelson Roy ◽  
Ray M. Merrill ◽  
Jenny Pierce ◽  
Krishna M. Sundar

Objective: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is characterized by frequent interruptions in breathing related to upper airway collapse during sleep and may adversely affect phonatory function. This study aimed to: (1) establish the prevalence, risks, and quality of life burden of voice disorders in OSA and (2) explore the relation between voice disorders and positive airway pressure (PAP) therapy. Study Design: Cross-sectional, descriptive epidemiology study. Methods: Analyses were based on 94 individuals with OSA (53 men, 41 women; mean age = 54.7 ± 12.8 years) who completed a telephone interview. Results: Twenty-eight percent of participants reported having a current voice disorder. Of those with a current voice disorder, 83% had experienced symptoms for at least a year, and 58% had symptoms for at least 4 years. The prevalence of a current voice disorder was greater in women than men (44% vs 15%, P = .0020) but did not vary significantly across different age groups, body mass index (BMI), apnea/hypopnea index (AHI) severity, or medical history. After adjusting for sex, consistent use of PAP therapy (with humidification) was associated with (1) lower occurrence of voice disorders in women (Mantel-Haenszel [MH] χ2 P = .0195), (2) reduced snoring severity accompanied by fewer voice disorders in men (MH χ2 P = .0101), and (3) fewer reports of acid reflux as a possible trigger for voice problems (MH χ2 P = .0226). Patients with OSA who also had a current voice disorder experienced lower overall quality of life compared to those without. Conclusions: Chronic, longstanding voice disorders are common in women with OSA and produce significant adverse effects on quality of life. Nightly PAP use (with humidification) was associated with fewer voice symptoms and reduced severity of snoring and acid reflux as possible contributors. Further research is necessary to better understand the origin of these voice disorders in OSA and their potential response to treatment.


Author(s):  
Jessica A. Tang ◽  
Taemin Oh ◽  
Justin K. Scheer ◽  
Andrew T. Parsa

The patient-generated index (PGI) is a more novel approach to evaluating health-related quality of life (HRQOL) that allows patients to formulate their own responses in an open-ended format in order to measure HRQOL based on each patient’s own stated goals and expectations. To date the use of PGI in the setting of patients diagnosed with cancer remains relatively less common compared to other health conditions. This systematic review primarily aims to identify current literature in which PGI has been used as a tool to assess quality of life in cancer patients. A systematic review using the MEDLINE database from January 1990 to July 2013 was performed with the following search terms to identify the implementation of PGI in oncology settings: (PGI OR patient generated index OR patient-generated OR patient-reported OR patient generated OR patient reported) AND (cancer OR oncology OR tumor OR neoplasm OR malignancy). Of the 2167 papers initially identified, 10 papers evaluated quality of life in oncology patients by collecting free-form responses from the patient, 4 of which actually used PGI. An overarching theme observed in these studies highlighted the concerns mentioned by patients that were not targeted or detected by standardized quality of life measures. While implementing the PGI may require slightly more investment of resources in the beginning, the potential implications of allowing patients to characterize their quality of life on their own terms are tremendous.


Akademos ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 150-153
Author(s):  
Corina Zagaievschi ◽  
◽  
Beatrice-Ionela Enache ◽  

This article deals with the problem of effective learning of modern languages. We aim to point out the current, progressive guidelines on language learning followed by their actual use in various cultural contexts. Spontaneous, instinctive and natural learning, through simple exposure to the target language, is a current trend in learning modern languages, because a language is easier to learn in real, concrete contexts, hearing, speaking, participating.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Niluefer Deniz Faizan ◽  
Alexander Löffler ◽  
Robert Heininger ◽  
Matthias Utesch ◽  
Helmut Krcmar

As a current trend in teaching, simulation games play an active and important role in the area of technology-based education. Simulation games create an envi-ronment for scholars to solve real-world problems in a risk-free environment. Therefore, they aim to increase the knowledge base as well as learning experienc-es for students. However, assessing the effectiveness of a simulation game is necessary to optimize elements of the game and increase their learning effect. In order to achieve this aim, different evaluation methods exist, which do not always involve all phases when running a simulation game. In this study, we conduct a literature review to analyze evaluation methods for three phases of simulation games: pre-game, in-game, and post-game. Thirty-one peer-reviewed research papers met specified selection criteria and we classified them according to a di-dactic framework that illustrates four phases of running simulation games: Prepa-ration, Introduction, Interaction and Conclusion phase. Based on the results, we provide a concrete evaluation strategy that will be a guide to assess simulation games during all phases. This study contributes to theory by providing an over-view of evaluation methods for the assessment of simulation games within the different game phases. It contributes to practice by providing a concrete evalua-tion strategy that can be adapted and used to assess simulation games.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. C45-C49
Author(s):  
O. Povstyanoy ◽  
A. MacMillan

Up-to-date directions in the development of modern industry increase the requirements for the quality of technical products. The design and manufacture of competitive process equipment require accuracy, productivity, and efficiency. Therefore, in this article, a new mechatronic system has been designed and developed to help porous, permeable materials with predicted porosity have been produced. The research aims to develop a mechatronic system for technology optimization in manufacturing permeable porous materials with controlled properties. As a result, the method of computer modeling of porous, permeable materials was developed. It allows us to consider the peculiarities of porosity distribution and radial velocity in radial isostatic compression. Additionally, a new mechatronic system for producing permeable materials allows us to determine the porosity distribution and particular characteristics of permeable powder material. The proposed approach allows us to evaluate the impact of technological modes on the main operational characteristics.


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