Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1978.

In order to facilitate the materials handling requirements of production structures configured for Mass Customisation Manufacturing, the design of requisite materials handling and routing systems must encompass new conceptual properties. Materials handling and routing systems with the capacity to support higher-level management systems would allow for mediated task allocation and structured vertical integration of these systems into existing manufacturing execution and management systems. Thus, a global objective in designing a materials handling and routing system, for such production configurations. is to provide a flexible system mechanism with minimal policy on system usage. With the recent developments in mobile robot technologies, due to various advancements in embedded system, computational, and communication infrastructures, mobile robot platforms can be developed that are robust and reliable, with operating structures incorporating bounded autonomy. With the addition of materials handling hardware, autonomous agent architectures, structured communication protocols and robotic software systems, these mobile robot platforms can provide viable solution mechanisms in realising real-time flexible materials handling in production environments facilitating Mass Customisation Manufacturing. This dissertation covers the research and development of a materials handling and routing system implementation architecture, for production environments facilitating Mass Customisation Manufacturing. The materials handling and routing task environment in such production structures is characterised in order to provide a well defined problem space for research purposes. A physical instance of a functional subset of the architecture is constructed consisting of a semi-autonomous mobile robot platform equipped with the infrastructure for materials handling and routing task execution. The architecture orientates the mobile robot platform in such a way as to present a collection of functional units, integrated and configured for a range of applications, and prevents viewpoints in the sense of monolithic mobile robots less susceptible to reconfiguration and stochastic utilisation. / Thesis (M.Sc.Eng.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

Vários trabalhos têm mostrado que a ingestão deficiente de ferro pode causar alterações nos parâmetros morfológicos e bioquímicos do Sistema Nervoso Central (SNC) do rato assim como em seu comportamento. Também, os animais deficientes em ferro mostram redução no número de lamelas de mielina e déficits de aprendizado. Por outro lado, a estimulação tátil pode reduzir e/ou evitar os danos causados pela má nutrição sobre o SNC e comportamento. Entretanto, os danos no processo de mielinização têm também sido vistos na anemia ferro-deficiente e, uma vez que o nervo óptico é em grande parte formado pelos axônios mielinizados, o objetivo deste estudo é verificar os efeitos da anemia ferropriva e estimulação tátil sobre a morfologia do nervo óptico de ratos Wistar machos aos 18, 22 e 32 dias de idade. Os animais foram divididos em 2 grupos: Controles ( C ) (35 mg Fe / Kg de dieta), Anêmicos ( A ) (4 mg Fe / Kg de dieta). Cada grupo foi subdividido em Estimulado ( E ) e Não Estimulado ( N ). O peso corporal, hemoglobina, hematócrito, área, perímetro, diâmetro mínimo, densidade de células gliais e número de vasos no nervo óptico foram avaliados. Os animais foram anestesiados com éter sulfúrico e sacrificados por perfusão cardíaca com PBS 0,05 M em pH 7,3, seguido por paraformaldeído 2% mais glutaraldeído 1% em tampão fosfato 0,1 M (pH 7,3). O nervo óptico foi dissecado e imerso em solução de tetróxido de ósmio a 1% por duas horas a 40C, desidratado em acetona com graus de diluição crescentes e incluído em araldite. As amostras de nervo óptico foram orientadas para permitir cortes transversos de suas fibras. Secções de 0,5 m foram obtidas e coradas com azul de toluidina 1% antes de serem examinadas na microscopia de luz. Os estudos morfométricos foram feitos com um sistema analisador de imagens semi-automático (MiniMop). Os resultados mostram que a anemia levou a deficiências no peso corporal, hematócrito, hemoglobina, área, perímetro, diâmetro mínimo, número de células gliais e número de vasos do nervo óptico entre os anêmicos, e que a estimulação melhorou significativamente estes itens tanto em anêmicos quanto em controles (à exceção de hematócrito e hemoglobina) porém não recuperando totalmente os estes prejuízos provocados pela anemia. / Several works have been shown that the deficient ingestion of iron can cause alterations in the morphologic and biochemical parameters of the Central Nervous System (CNS) of the rat as well as in its behavior. Also, the iron deficient animals show reduction in the number of myelin lamellae and learning deficits. On the other hand, the tactile stimulation can reduce and/or to avoid the damages caused by the bad nutrition about CNS and behavior. However, the damages in the myelinization process have been seen also in the iron-deficient anemia and, at once that the optical nerve is formed largely by the myelinated axons, the objective of this study is to verify the effects of the anemia and tactile stimulation on the morphology of the optical nerve of Wistar males rats at the 18th, 22 nd and 32 nd days of age. The animals were divided in 2 groups: Controls © (35 mg Fe / diet Kg), Anemic (A) (4 mg Fe / diet Kg). Each group was subdivided in Stimulated (S) and No Stimulated (N). The corporal weight, haemoglobin, haematocrit, area, perimeter, minimum diameter, density of glial cells and number of vases were evaluated. The animals were anesthetized and sacrificed by heart perfusion with PBS 0,05 M in pH 7,3, following for paraformaldheyde 2% plus glutaraldheyde 1% in a phosphate buffer 0,1 M (pH 7,3). The optic nerve was dissected and submerged in solution of osmium tetroxide 1% for two hours at 40C, dehydrated in acetone with decreasing dilution degrees and included in araldite. The samples of optic nerve were guided to allow transverse cuts of their fibers. Sections sized 0,5 m were obtained and stained with toluidin blue 1% prior examinations in the light microscopy. The morphometric studies were made with a semiautomatic analyzing system of images (MiniMop). The results show that the anaemia caused differences in the corporal weight, haematocrit, haemoglobin, area, perimeter, minimum diameter, number of glial cells and vassels of the optical nerve among controls and anaemic, and that the stimulation influenced significantly on these items taking to the conclusion that it improves the damaged structures due to anaemia, but it doesn’t recover them totally.

Barns lek beskrivs som en magisk värld, där barn blir engagerade och uppsluppna av leken. För barnet är lek något lustbetonat som ger glädje. Tidigare forskning visar att personalen är osäkra på sin roll i leken, vill kontrollera och gärna lägger fokus på aktiviteter de planerat sedan tidigare. Hur personalen ser på sin roll i lek varierar och det i sin tur beror på vilken inställning de har till lek. En strävan har varit att lyfta fram relevant forskning för studiens syfte, vilket är att undersöka hur personalens medverkan ger följder för barns fria lek. Två frågeställningar har formulerats som ämnar söka svar på vad som kännetecknar pedagogers handling i den fria leken och hur personalens handlingar inverkar på den fria leken. Det är en mikroetnografisk studie med videoobservationer som metod och som tar sin utgångspunkt i det sociokulturella perspektivet. Produktionen av data har ägt rum på två förskolor, där två avdelningar valdes ut för observation enligt ett bekvämlighetsurval. Resultatet visar att när personal medverkar i den fria leken får deras handlingar följder för lekens riktning som i form av stöttning, handlingsutrymme och styrning. En slutsats som kan dras är att den fria leken är styrd i olika grad beroende på personalens handlingar.

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Published Article / Mechatronic practitioners are engaged in the assembly and maintenance of complex machines, plants and systems in the engineering sector or in organisations which purchase and operate such mechatronic systems. Mechatronics, often described as the synergy of mechanical and computer systems together with electronic technologies, is increasingly being singled out as a core focus by both the education and business sectors. This international trend is also evident in South Africa and Engineering Faculties now have to provide students with the opportunity not only to acquire theoretical knowledge in Mechatronics but also to develop skills in implementing and designing mechatronics systems.

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Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries