Imagination and situated cognition

Abstract

We describe a novel agent architecture based on the idea that cognition is imagined interaction, i.e. that cognitive tasks are performed by interacting with an imaginary world. We demonstrate the architecture by its application to a subsumption-based mobile robot. The robot's interactive abilities include exploration of an environment and goal-directed navigation within a previously explored environment. Imagination enables the robot to read and make use of maps, allowing it to reason about unfamiliar environments as well.     

Random pulse-width modulation technique for voltage-controlled power inverters

As an alternative to the existing deterministic pulse-width modulation methods, a random pulse-width modulation technique for voltage-controlled power inverters is proposed. Advantages of the technique include non-repetitiveness of the switching pattern, simplicity of the hardware, and uncommonly high limits of switching frequency. A prototype random pulse-width modulator is described and experimental results are presented.     

POSTMODULAR SYSTEMS: ARCHITECTURAL PRINCIPLES FOR COGNITIVE ROBOTICS

Modular-functional decomposition is a fundamental tenet of computer science. Cognitive robotics, with strong roots in cognitive science and biology,replaces modular-functional decomposition with a more opportunistic approach. Nonetheless, we can extract heuristics with both analytic and synthetic power: architectural principles for postmodular systems. This paper describes three postmodular principles: imagination, shared grounding, and incremental adaptation. It briefly discusses examples of each drawn from existing systems. The paper concludes with an illustration of these three principles used in concert to build a system that progresses first to hand-eye coordination, then to planned complex reaching, and finally to shared attention.     

THE EFFECTS OF THERMAL AND NONTHERMAL PROCESSING METHODS ON APPLE CIDER QUALITY AND CONSUMER ACCEPTABILITY

Due to increased concern about the safety of fruit, vegetable and juice products, the FDA has mandated that these must undergo a 5‐log reduction in pathogens. The development of various processing methods for juice products has caused the need to determine the effects of these methods on said products. The effect of thermal pasteurization, UV irradiation and ozone treatment on apple cider quality and consumer acceptability was studied over 21 days. Thermally pasteurized samples were different in color and less preferred in all areas of consumer acceptability. UV‐irradiated samples were lower in soluble solids for the first 7 days and showed no significant difference in consumer acceptability. Ozone‐treated cider had greater sedimentation, lower sucrose content and a decrease in soluble solids by day 21. UV irradiation allows for a more cost‐effective method to produce safe apple cider with minimal quality and consumer acceptability differences.     

URBAN POVERTY AND THE SOCIAL CONSEQUENCES OF PRIVATIZED FOOD ASSISTANCE

ABSTRACT: Urban affairs research has not examined how broad social forces and policy changes affect daily life in urban communities, organizations, and families. Drawing on ethnographic field work in urban food assistance sites as well as analyses of the comparative roles of government and the voluntary sector in responding to social problems, this study provides evidence that: (1) voluntary organizations (in this case food assistance providers) have been drawn into a growing institutionalized “shadow government” (Wolch, 1990); (2) this newly institutionalized voluntary bureaucracy closely parallels the bureaucracy, the rigidity, and the depersonalization of government agencies; (3) willingly or not, this increasingly institutionalized food provision network contributes to the continued view of poverty in America as primarily the result of personal defects and temporary misfortunes requiring only an “emergency,” albeit virtually permanent, response from society; and (4) these changes have consequences for the transfer of responsibility for assistance from the public to the private sector under welfare reform.     

Physical Factors Related to C18 Adsorption Columns for Debittering Protein Hydrolysates

A C18 column for debittering casein hydrolysates was tested for life-span (70 debittering cycles), diameter-to-height ratio (D/H) (1.33-5.0), linear flow rate (LFR) (200-400 cm-hr^-1), and scale-up ability (13-fold). The product quality and yield (69–72%) were consistent within these ranges of test conditions. The debittering capacity was about 0.6g loaded sample g^-1 C18. Columns were functional with feed concentrations (FC) as high as 30% (w/v).     

Pre-Emulsified Corn Oil, Pork Fat, or Added Moisture Affect Quality of Reduced Fat Bologna Quality

Replacing fat with additional water prevented the increase in firmness normally associated with low-fat meat products. Pre-emulsifying the fat or oil also decreased the firmness of reduced-fat bologna. The color of reduced fat bologna was darker for all except the pre-emul-sified corn oil treatments. Redness values for the intact (reduced) fat were the highest of all treatments. Pre-emulsifying fats caused a reduction in redness values for bologna. Flavor and overall acceptability scores from a consumer sensory panel did not differ among bologna samples, but juiciness scores were higher in bologna containing additional water. Accumulated purge in vacuum packages increased with water content in the products and with addition of pre-emulsified oil.