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Have a look at some of the Sensors that used in IoT App Development that helps technology to be more effective in apps, Sensors Like Temperature, Pressure, Accelerometer and Gyroscope and more.
Prismetric
8 Types of Sensors that are Quintessential to Build an IoT App
10 Jan 2018 Suraj Patel Internet of Things, IoT
A few years back, it was implausible to imagine that the nervous system inside human beings will ever be possible to mimic in the real-world where senseless objects can be made to speak, monitor and act. Thanks to the smart sensors that have become an integral part of the digital devices and are increasingly embraced in the app development to give the world a digital nervous system.
In engineering IoT applications, the sensors stay at the heart and not a single IoT network can remain unarmed with sensors troops.
The smart sensors are the indispensable asset of the IoT apps that are transforming how intelligently and quickly the industries can gain rich insights to modernize the processes. With the network of sensors, not just organizations, while every element of the ecosystem is getting smarter after every day.
The evolution of sensors and the potential use cases is rethinking the way we see the world and fueling up the IoT app development worldwide. The decreasing cost of the sensors has become the other reason for their higher adoption.
Take a look at the 10 types of the sensors that are closely associated with the IoT universe:
The temperature sensor senses the heat in the surrounding and can detect any physical change in the temperature. The sensor can be embedded with anything, be it humans or objects where it sense, collect and transfer the temperature data to the control device and thereafter initiate the action according to the defined algorithms.
Controlling AC temperature or refrigerator cooling with temperature sensors is the popular instance of it. The sensor is when programmed to adjust the temperature upon the variation in temperature, then either temperature is increased, or decreased to maintain the optimum cooling.
A pressure sensor is capable of detecting the variation in the pressure against the standard range and sending the data to the controlling system in the form of electric signals when any change is found. The sensor finds much utility in different sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing, water supply and heating systems.
For example, in the building, the owner won't need to employ an engineer to examine the infrastructure on a regular basis for the building maintenance when the pressure sensors are embedded in the building.
The sensor would constantly check the pressure and notify the owner if any difference is found so that the proactive action can be taken timely.
The sensor came into the limelight when Apple used it in its devices to measure the orientation and tilting motion of the iPhones. However, the sensor has massive use cases as it precisely senses the change in the velocity of the object with respect to the earth's surface.
The various kinds of the accelerometer with different capacities are available like- half-effect, capacitive, piezoelectric, and MicroElectroMechanicalSystem (MEMS). This is why it's a component of inertial navigation system used in missiles and aircrafts; used in drones for flight stimulation; used as an anti-theft protector when the static object is moved; detect and monitor the vibration of rotating machinery and pretty more.
The gyroscope sensor can be touted as an add-on to the information provided by the accelerometer sensor.
The accelerometer can detect linear acceleration and gyroscope can measure the angular rotation velocity. That's why both the sensors are used together in many devices and applications.
The gyro sensor is powered enough to detect the rotational motions which even can humans find difficulty in sensing. Based on the size, performance, output and environmental conditions, the gyro sensors come in different flavors.
The ring laser gyro sensors with high accuracy are used in the space shuttle, fiber optic gyrosensors with optimum performance are leveraged in aircrafts, race cars, and motor boats and vibration gyro sensors with comparatively less sensing capability are largely in use for car navigation, digital cameras, SLR camera, mobile games, and camera-shake detection system.
The sensor works exactly as its name. It detects the physical motion in an area and then sends the information to the controlling device by transforming the motion into the signal.
It's considered as the linchpin of the security industry because it's chiefly used in the intrusion detection system, smart cameras, home security system, automatic door controls and boom barrier wherein they can easily notice the anybody's presence with passive infrared rays, ultrasonic waves, and microwaves.
Furthermore, the motion sensor can also decipher the types of movements like- waving the hand in any direction, clapping and others. The high-level sensing capability enhances the use of sensors in energy management system, hand dryers, automated parking system, and automated sinks.
Also Read: Inter-connectivity of IoT and Digitization: A step to the Future
You have certainly viewed the emergency alarms in the corporate buildings, HVAC, residential buildings and at manufacturing zones. The alarm when senses the fire or smoke, it starts buzzing to notify the people about the danger.
The whole system is based on smoke sensors wherein the smoke sensors in the alarm detect the smoke, flame or harmful gas, it informs the controlling device that there is a danger. The IoT application, then send the signal to the connected devices to open the dump fans, open the evacuation door and instruct the alarm to start ringing to notify the people about any mishappening.
With the uplifting use of the GPS technology, the proximity sensor usage is also skyrocketing which identify the presence or absence of the object within the defined distance limit.When the object is detected in the vicinity, the signal is sent to the controlling system to initiate an action as soon as the data is received.
You have observed it while reversing your car where the proximity sensor triggers you about an obstacle with beep sound. The marketing offers when you pass by a retail store or come in its proximity is another example of it. At the airport and super malls also, the proximity sensors are integrated into the parking areas to let the people easily find the parking.
The optical sensors are better at measuring the amount of light in the surrounding with electromagnetic energy monitoring and then converting it into the form that can be easily readable by the digital devices.
The digital optical switches, optical fiber communication, transportation fields, oil and gas application, assembly line counters and elevator door control are the main areas where optical sensors find their immense use as they are immune to the electrical and electromagnetic interference.
The photodetector, pyrometer, fiber optics and infrared are the key types of optical sensors that are embraced in distinct IoT application development.
These are some of the most commonly used sensors that build up the IoT system apart from the usual devices. IoT is rightly called the technology of sensors as it is these devices with the sensors which triggers the action. The efficient use of these sensors to perform the functions will add to make the Internet of Things as the Technology of Things.
Suraj Patel
Technology, the heart of the new age business, is his interest. His association with technology and business is well balanced to offer solutions that will lead organizations towards success. He likes to explore techno feasibilities that will functionalize business requirements productively. He likes to visit tech forums, to answer developer queries, to find new ways and write about technologies that will mobilize businesses.
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This entry was posted on May 11, 2015 by SRC Health.
Maternity cardigans are one of the basic must-haves in a pregnant woman's wardrobe – or even in a new mother's closet for many reasons. Cardigans can be worn to ward off the chill during the cool autumn and winter days, accentuate the beauty of the outfit for the day, and cover the growing baby bump, if you so desire.
But for a basic maternity cardigan to become a fashionable cardigan, you should go beyond the basics of just wearing it over a simple tank top or a maternity dress. Here are a few tips that will transform not just your maternity cardigans but your outfits for the day, too.
This may not exactly hide your growing baby bump because adding a belt will accentuate it. But if you are proud to be pregnant, then cinching a belt around your growing middle will also create a more hourglass silhouette.
Tip: Choose a skinny belt for a more stylish silhouette. Wear the SRC Essentials fashionable cardigan over a tank top and pencil skirt for a corporate look or over the maternity nursing dress for a more casual look. Get as many maternity cardigans in various styles and colours so that you can mix and match.
In winter, you should consider wearing several layers of warm clothing. For example, wear a fashionable cardigan underneath a cropped leather jacket for a biker edgy look while also being warm against the cold air.
Thin and thick, short and long, plain-coloured or printed – scarves come in all shapes, sizes and colours that running out of styles is nearly impossible, not to mention that these clothing items come in several price points from cheap to pricey.
Mix and match maternity cardigans with scarves like you would with other articles of clothing, such as maternity jeans and tops. Pair a chunky scarf for added warmth during winter or wear a silky scarf draped around your neck for a chic look.
A fashionable cardigan with an open front, such as the maternity cardigans offered by SRC Health, is always a stylish choice. Pair it with the maternity tank top and straight-legged maternity pants with either sandals or boots and you are good to go.
And don't forget to add embellishments to maternity cardigans, if that's your style. Think of brooches, bows and even pom-poms but just remember that the fussier your cardigan gets, the simpler your outfit should be.


text:
The Effects of Learning in Morphologically Evolving Robot Systems
by Jie Luo, et al.
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
When controllers (brains) and morphologies (bodies) of robots simultaneously evolve, this can lead to a problem, namely the brain body mismatch problem. In this research, we propose a solution of lifetime learning. We set up a system where modular robots can create offspring that inherit the bodies of parents by recombination and mutation. With regards to the brains of the offspring, we use two methods to create them. The first one entails solely evolution which means the brain of a robot child is inherited from its parents. The second approach is evolution plus learning which means the brain of a child is inherited as well, but additionally is developed by a learning algorithm - RevDEknn. We compare these two methods by running experiments in a simulator called Revolve and use efficiency, efficacy, and the morphology intelligence of the robots for the comparison. The experiments show that the evolution plus learning method does not only lead to a higher fitness level, but also to more morphologically evolving robots. This constitutes a quantitative demonstration that changes in the brain can induce changes in the body, leading to the concept of morphological intelligence, which is quantified by the learning delta, meaning the ability of a morphology to facilitate learning.
Jie Luo
Jakub M. Tomczak
Agoston E. Eiben
Evolutionary Co-Design of Morphology and Control of Soft Tensegrity Modular Robots with Programmable Stiffness
Tensegrity structures are lightweight, can undergo large deformations, a...
Davide Zappetti, et al. ∙
The Dynamic of Body and Brain Co-Evolution
We introduce a method that permits to co-evolve the body and the control...
Paolo Pagliuca, et al. ∙
Co-optimising Robot Morphology and Controller in a Simulated Open-Ended Environment
Designing robots by hand can be costly and time consuming, especially if...
Emma Hjellbrekke Stensby, et al. ∙
Using Indirect Encoding of Multiple Brains to Produce Multimodal Behavior
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Jacob Schrum, et al. ∙
Towards the Targeted Environment-Specific Evolution of Robot Components
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Jack Collins, et al. ∙
Morphological Development at the Evolutionary Timescale: Robotic Developmental Evolution
Evolution and development operate at different timescales; generations f...
Fabien C. Y. Benureau, et al. ∙
A Minimal Developmental Model Can Increase Evolvability in Soft Robots
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Sam Kriegman, et al. ∙
In the field of Evolutionary Robotics, the majority of studies consider the evolution of brains with a fixed body. This is not surprising, considering that the joint evolution of morphologies and controllers implies two search spaces and the search space for the brain changes with every new robot body produced. Evolving morphologies and controllers of robots simultaneously leads to a problem which has been noted long ago, being the body-brain mismatch problem [Eiben2013] : Even though parents have well-matching bodies and brains, recombination and mutation can shuffle the parental genotypes such that the resulting body and brain combination might not fit well. Consequently, causing sub-optimal behaviour in the offspring. The proposed solution is the addition of learning. As phrased in "If it evolves it needs to learn". [Eiben2020]
The main goal of this research is to investigate the effects of learning in morphologically evolving robots. Our Hypothesis is that: 1) with learning, the time for achieving the same fitness level is less than without. 2) the learning approach does not only lead to different fitness levels, but also to different robot morphologies.
To this end, we set up a system where (simulated) modular robots can reproduce and create offspring that inherit the parents' morphologies by crossover and mutation. Regarding the controllers, we implement two methods. The first one is with evolution only which means the brain of a robot child is inherited from its parents. The second approach is evolution plus learning which means the brain of a child is also inherited, but additionally, it is optimized by a learning algorithm. The comparison is based on three measures: efficiency, efficacy, and morphological intelligence.
Ii-a Evolvable morphology
The body & brain mismatch issue has been noted long ago, several approaches have been proposed to mitigate this effect on the population.
Cheney et al. [Cheney2014] implemented a form of novelty protection in which 'younger' robot designs were protected from individuals that survived for more generations. Protecting a novel individual will increase its chance to adapt the controller properly for its body. Novelty protection corresponds with implementing a single lifetime learning iteration every time a morphology is protected. Similarly, De Carlo et al. [de2020influences] implemented protection in the form of speciation within their NEAT algorithm. The preservation of diversity in the population allowed new morphologies to survive, thus reducing the effects of body-brain mismatch.
Nygaard, Samuelsen, and Glette [nygaard2017overcoming] demonstrated improvements in their ER system by introducing two phases during evolution. The first phase consists of both controller and morphology evolution, while during the second phase only the controller evolves in a fixed body. The results showed that, without the second phase, morphology and controller evolution led to sub-optimal controllers which required additional fine-tuning.
In this paper, we use the Triangle of Life framework (Figure 1) to integrates evolution and life time learning [Eiben2013] . The essence is to have newborn robots perform a learning process that optimizes their inherited brain quickly after birth. An important additional feature is that newborn robots are considered to be infertile (i.e., not eligible for reproduction) until they successfully finish the learning period. This prevents that inferior genetic information is propagated and thus it saves resources.
Fig. 1: The life of triangle framework
Ii-B Controller learning algorithms
Similar research has been done recently [Diggelen] in which three learning algorithms have been compared whilst being applied to the CPG-based controllers to improve the weights. Namely: Evolutionary Strategies, Bayesian Optimization and Reversible Differential Evolution(RevDE). The study shows that the shape of the fitness landscape in Evolutionary strategies hints to a possible bias for morphologies with many joints. This could be an unwanted property for the implementation of lifetime learning because we want an algorithm that can work consistently on different kinds of morphologies. Bayesian Optimization is good at sample efficiency, however it required much more time comparing to the other two methods due to the higher time-complexity. Therefore RevDE outperforms among these three algorithms.
Differential Evolution
is a population-based Evolutionary algorithm (EA) that samples new candidates by perturbing the current population
[Storn1997] . The three main components in this method are as follows:
Differential mutation operator: A new candidate is generated by randomly picking a triplet from the population, (xi,xj,xk)∈X, then xi is perturbed by adding a scaled difference between xj and xk, that is:
y=xi+F(xj−xk) (1)
where F∈R+ is the scaling factor.
Uniform crossover operator: the authors of [Storn1997] proposed to sample a binary mask m∈{0,1}D
according to the Bernoulli distribution with probability p = P(md = 1) shared across all D dimensions, and calculate the final candidate according to the following formula:
v=m⊙y+(1−m)⊙xi (2)
The last component is a selection mechanism: the authors use the "survival of the fittest" approach, i.e., combine the old population with the new one and select N candidates with the highest fitness values, i.e., the deterministic (μ + λ) selection.
However, the mutation operator in DE perturbs candidates using other individuals in the population to generate a single new candidate. As a result, having too small a population could limit exploration of the search space and loose diversity. In order to overcome this issue, a modification of DE - Reversible DE (RevDE) was proposed that utilized all three individuals to generate three new points in the following manner [Tomczak2020] :
y1=xi+F(xj−xk)y2=xj+F(xk−y1)y3=xk+F(y1−y2) (3)
New candidates y1 and y2 could be further used to calculate perturbations using points outside the population. This approach does not follow a typical construction of an EA where only evaluated candidates are mutated. Further, we can express (3
) as a linear transformation using matrix notation by introducing matrices as follows:
In order to obtain the matrix R, we need to plug y1 to the second and third equation in (3), and then y2 to the last equation in (3). As a result, we obtain M = 3N new candidate solutions and the linear transformation R is reversible.
However, generating 3N new candidates and evaluating all of them further comes with an extra computational cost while running the simulator. In this paper, we will use an advanced version of RevDE to alleviate this issue. This algorithm is introduced in the Algorithm section.
Iii Experiment Set-up
The experiments have been carried out in Revolve (https://github.com/ci-group/revolve), a Gazebo based simulator which enables us to test the parts of the system as well as to set an entire environment for the complete evolutionary process. All experiments were performed using an infinite plane environment to avoid any extra complexity. We ran two experiments: experiment 1 works by running evolution alone. In this system, controllers are inheritable and the controller of the offspring is produced by applying crossover and mutation to the controllers of the parents. We refer to this experiment as Evolution Only throughout the paper. In experiment 2, controllers are not only evolvable, but also learnable. In this experiment, the controller of the offspring is produced by a learning algorithm that starts with the inherited brain. We refer to this experiment as Evolution + Learning throughout the paper.
Iii-a Robot genotype (Body & Brain)
In this paper, we use a Lindenmayer-System (L-system) as the genetic representation [Miras2020] . The grammar of a L-System is defined as a tuple G = (V, w, P ), where
– V, the alphabet, is a set of symbols containing replaceable and non-replaceable symbols.
– w, the axiom, is a symbol from which the system starts.
– P is a set of production-rules for the replaceable symbols.
The following didactic example illustrates the process of iterative-rewriting of an L-System. For a given number of iterations, each replaceable symbol is simultaneously replaced by the symbols of its production-rule. Given V = X,Y,Z, w = X and P = X : X,Y,Y : Z,Z : X,Z, the rewriting goes as follows:
Iteration 0: X
Iteration 1: XY
Iteration 2: XY Z
Iteration 3: XY ZXZ
The construction of a phenotype (robot) from a genotype (grammar) is done by the following steps: 1. the axiom of the grammar is rewritten into a more complex string of symbols according to the production-rules of the grammar. 2. this string is decoded into a phenotype, one for the morphology (pointing to the current module) and one for the controller (pointing to the current sensor and the current oscillator).
Iii-B Robot phenotype (Body)
The robots in Revolve are based on the RoboGen framework [Auerbach2014] . We use a subset of 3D-printable components: one core component, one or more brick components, and one or more active hinges (see Figure 2). Each robot's genotype describes its layout and consists of a tree-structure with the root node representing a core module from which further components branch out. Component types contain specific features described by its genotypical encoding dependant on a component's type. These models are used in the simulation, but also could be used for 3D printing and construction of the real robots.
Fig. 2: Modules of robots: The active hinge component (A) is a joint moved by a servomotor with attachment slots on both ends; The brick component (B) is a smaller cube with attachment slots on its lateral sides; The core component (C) which holds a controller board with battery is a large brick with four attachment slots on its lateral faces;
Iii-C Robot phenotype (Brain)
We use Central Pattern Generators (CPGs)-based controllers to drive the modular robots. CPGs are biological neural circuits that produce rhythmic outputs in the absence of rhythmic input. They are pairs of neurons (
xi,yi) that drive rhythmic and stereotyped locomotion behaviors like walking, swimming, flying etc. in vertebrate species and they have been proven to perform well in modular robots [Ijspeert2007] .
In this study, the controllers are optimized for gait-learning. Each robot joint is associated with a CPG that is defined by three neurons, an xi-neuron, a yi-neuron, and an outi-neuron that are recursively connected as shown in Figure 3. The change of a neuron's state is calculated by multiplying the activation value of the opposite neuron with a weight (w). So the xi-neuron and yi-neurons feed their activation values multiplied by weights wxiyi and wyixi respectively to the yi-neuron and xi
-neuron respectively. In our case, we use a variant of the sigmoid function, the hyperbolic tangent function (tanh), as the activation function of
outi-neurons to bound the output value in [−1,1] due to the limited rotating angle of the joints.
Fig. 3: A single CPG. i denotes the specific joint that is associated with this CPG. wxiyi, wyixi, and wxioi denote the weights of the connections between the neurons, and out is the activation value of outi-neuron that controls the servo in a joint i.
Iii-D Algorithm
It has been demonstrated that RevDE performs well to evolve controllers in modular robots for a given task [Diggelen] . However, it increases the computational cost of running the simulator by tripling the population. Here we introduce a surrogate model to overcome this issue. It uses the K-Nearest-Neighbor (K-NN) regressor to approximate the fitness values of the new candidates, then select N most promising points [Weglarz-Tomczak2021] . We refer to this approach as RevDEknn.
The K-NN regression model is a non-parametric model that stores all previously seen individuals with their evaluations, and the prediction of a new candidate solution is an average over the K closest previously seen individuals (Table
I). In this paper, we set K = 3.
The algorithm works as follows:
(1) initialize a population with X samples;
(2) evaluate the fitness of all X samples;
(3) perform a selection over the top samples to obtain vector
x1 in search space;
(4) randomly shuffle x1 to create two additional vectors (x2,x3), and create the following new samples y1=x1+F(x2−x3), y2=x2+F(x3−x1) and y3=x3+F(y1−y2). Apply uniform crossover with probability p between each xn and yn;
(5) apply K-NN to predict the fitness value of new samples based on the 3 closest previously seen samples and repeat from (2).
(6) terminate when the maximum generation is reached. Following general recommendations in literature [Pedersen2010] to obtain stable exploration/exploitation behaviour, the crossover probability p is fixed to a value of 0.9 and the scaling factor F is fixed to a value of 0.5.
RevDEknn Value Description
X 25 Initial population size
x1 25 Top samples size
F 0.5 Scaling factor
p 0.9 Crossover probability
k 3 Number of Nearest-Neighbors
g 10 Number of Generations
TABLE I: Hyperparameters
In this paper, we apply RevDEknn to change the weights of the CPGs of modular robots, for N CPGs, we have 3*N weights to improve their controllers for the task of gait-learning. For the whole big loop, we use Evolutionary Algorithm (EA). The whole process is illustrated in Figure 4.
Fig. 4: Evolution + Learning Framework: This is a general framework to make embodied robots via two interacting adaptive processes. An outer loop of evolution optimizes robot morphology via variation (mutation & crossover) operations and an inner RevDEknn learning loop optimizes the parameters of a CPG controller (the yellow box). In the Evaluation box, we show examples of a robot morphology, controller, environment, behavior and fitness value.
The code for carrying out the experiments is available online: https://github.com/ci-group/revolve/tree/experiments/jlo_learning. The pseudocode of combining EA and RevDEknn is shown below:
1:INITIALIZE robot population (genotypes + phenotypes with body and brain)
2:EVALUATE each robot (evaluation delivers a fitness value)
3:while not STOP-EVOLUTION do
4: SELECT parents; (based on fitness)
5: RECOMBINE+MUTATE parents' bodies; (genotype)
6: RECOMBINE+MUTATE parents' brains; (genotype)
7: CREATE offspring robot body; (phenotype)
8: CREATE offspring robot brain; (phenotype)
9: INITIALIZE brain(s) for the learning process;
10: while not STOP-LEARNING do
11: ASSESS offspring; (performance value)
12: GENERATE new brain for offspring;
13: end while
14: EVALUATE offspring w/ learned brain; (fitness value)
15: SELECT survivors / UPDATE population
16:end while
Algorithm 1 EA+DevDEknn
Iii-E Experiment parameters
An initial population of 50 robots is randomly generated in the first generation. In each generation 25 offspring are produced by selecting 25 pairs of parents through binary tournaments (with replacement) and creating one child per pair by crossover and mutation. From the top 25 parents plus 25 offspring, 50 individuals are selected for the next generation. The evolutionary process is terminated after 30 generations. In this research, the fitness value and performance value are the same. Therefore, for running Experiment Evolution Only, we perform 50+25∗30=800 fitness evaluations.
In Experiment Evolution + Learning, for each evolutionary process, we tested RevDEknn on gait learning during 750 (25 initial population * 3 by RevDE * 10 generations) learning trials with 250 assessments (750 divided by k=3 predictions) to simulate the robot's limited field of view in the real-world. This resulted in (50+25∗30)∗250=200,000 fitness evaluations.
We set the evaluation time to be 30 seconds to balance computing time and accurately evaluating a task as gait learning in which the fitness utilized was the speed (cm/s) of the robot's displacement in any direction, notated as sx=(ex−bx)/t where bx is x coordinate of the robot's center of mass in the beginning of the simulation, ex is x coordinate of the robot's center of mass at the end of the simulation, and t is the duration of the simulation.
To sum up, for running these 2 experiments, we perform 200,800 evaluations which amounts to 200,800∗30/60/60=1673.33 hours of (simulated) time. In practice, it takes about 0.7 day to run these experiments on five computers with an Intel i7 CPU. All the experiments are repeated 10 times independently to get a robust assessment of the performance per data set. The experimental parameters we used in the experiments are described in Table II
Parameters Value Description
Population size 50 Number of individuals per generation
Offspring size 25 Number of offspring produced per generation
Mutation 0.8 Probability of mutation for individuals
Crossover 0.8 Probability of crossover for individuals
Generations 30 Termination condition for each run
Learning trial 750 Number of the RevDEknn learning trials
Evaluation time 30 Duration of the test period per fitness evaluation in seconds
Tournament size 2 Number of individuals used in tournament selection
Repetitions 10 Number of repetitions per experiment (each robot + gait-learning)
TABLE II: Main experiment parameters
Iii-F Performance measures
To compare the two methods, we consider three performance indicators: efficiency, efficacy, and the morphologies intelligence.
Iii-F1 Efficiency & Efficacy
We measure efficacy by the quality achieved at the end of the evolutionary process. Since we consider gait learning here, the quality is defined by the speed of the robot. As this measure can be sensitive to 'luck', we get more useful statistics by taking the average over 10 different runs. Thus here, the efficacy of a method is defined by the mean best fitness averaged over the 10 independent repetitions. Efficiency indicates how quickly the robot finds its best solution.
Iii-F2 Morphological Descriptors
For quantitatively assessing morphological traits of the robots, we utilized the following set of descriptors:
Absolute Size: Total number of modules of a robot body. It's a sum of all the structural bricks, hinges and one core-component with controller board.
absolute_size = brick_count + hinge_count + 1
Width: The width of a body, excluding sensors.
Proportion: The length-width ratio of the rectangular envelope around the morphology. It is defined as following:
P=pspl
where ps is the shortest side of the morphology, and pl is the longest side.
Number of Bricks: The number of structural bricks in the morphology.
Relative Number of Limbs: The number of extremities of a morphology relative to a practical limit. It is defined as following:
L={llmaxif lmax>00otherwise
Lmax={2∗(m−6)3+(m−6)(mod3)+4if lmax>0m−1otherwise
where m is the total number of modules in the morphology, l the number of modules which have only one face attached to another module (except for the core-component) and lmax is the maximum amount of modules with one face attached that a morphology with m modules could have, if containing the same amount of modules arranged in a different way.
Number of Active Hinges: Number of active hinges in the morphology. Activate hinge means a joint that has a motor, and non-activate is a passive joint (just the 'bendable' plastic).
We use the above six morphological descriptors to capture relevant robot morphological traits, and quantify the correlations between controller & morphology search spaces.
Iv Experiment Results
Iv-a Efficiency & Efficacy
Adding a life-time learning capacity to the system increased the speed of the robots, as depicted by Figures 5 and 6. This was expected for two reasons: a) the number of evaluations performed by Evolution + Learning is around 100 times higher than by Evolution Only; b) in Evolution + Learning, robots have time to fine-tune their controllers to the morphologies they were born with. Instead, we are interested in observing which method presents a faster growth of the average speed. In Figure 5, the black line shows that around generation 20, Evolution + Learning had already obtained an average speed that took Evolution Only the whole evolutionary period to achieve, i.e., 30 generations. In another word, Evolution + Learning at generation 20 created only 550 robots and spent 55,000 evaluations while Evolution Only created 800 robots and 800 evaluations at generation 30. If we consider real physical robots, and assuming that the production cost of each robot (around 4 hours) is substantially higher than the evaluation cost (around 30 seconds), we can clearly see the advantage of introducing learning.
Fig. 5: The blue and purple lines are the progression of the mean of fitness over 30 generations (avg. over 10 runs). The blue and purple dotted lines show the maximum fitness per generation. The black dotted lines mark generations, when the evo+learning method (after learning) achieved the levels of the fitness that the Evo only method managed to achieve only in the end of the evolutionary period.
Fig. 6: Comparison of fitness in the final generations. The blue triangles show the mean of the fitness.Significance levels for the Wilcoxon tests in the boxplot non-significant.
Fig. 7: Comparison of maximum fitness in the final generations. The blue triangles show the mean of the fitness. Significance levels for the Wilcoxon tests in the boxplot are non-significant.
Iv-B Morphological Intelligence
In this paper, we consider a new concept - Morphological Intelligence. Morphology influences how the brain learns. Some bodies are more suitable for the brains to learn with than others. How well the brain learns can be empowered by a better body. Therefore we define the intelligence of a body as a measure of how well it facilitates the brain to learn and achieve tasks, in this case, gait learning. In this paper, we quantify morphological intelligence by the learning delta, being speed after the parameters were learned minus speed before the parameters were learned. See Figure 8, where we see that the average learning Δ of the method Evolution + Learning, grows across the generations.
This growth is very steady. The observation indicates that the life-time learning led the evolutionary search to more quickly exploit the high performing morphological properties. In other words, it was faster for the population to turn into morphologies that are big, disproportional, with few, long limbs which fit the brains better.
Fig. 8: Learning Δ: average speed after the parameters were learned minus average speed before the parameters were learned. Progression of the mean over 10 runs of the population.
Iv-C Morphological Descriptors
In [Miras2020a] , a study utilizing this same robot framework observed a strong selection pressure for robots with few limbs, most often one single, long limb, i.e., a snake-like morphology. Furthermore, they demonstrated that by explicitly adding a penalty to having this morphological property, the population did indeed develop multiple limbs, nevertheless, these robots were much slower than the single-limb ones. We selected 6 morphological traits which display a clear trend over generations. In figure 9, we see the progression of the mean of different morphological descriptors averaged over 10 runs for the entire population. We observed a strong selection pressure for robots with few limbs, most often one single long limb, i.e., a snake-like morphology. Evolution + learning robots tend to be bigger along the evolution and wider in width compared to robots evolved in Evolution only. Robots from both methods tend to have fewer number of bricks, limbs and more active hinges over generations. We also observe that the generations evolve from having multiple limbs to having a single-limb, leading to higher speed. (Figure 10 and 11). A video showing examples of robots from both types of experiments can be found in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH4A6sm4Umw.
[] [] [] [] [] []
Fig. 9:
We selected 6 morphological traits which give a clear trend over generations. Progression of the mean of different morphological descriptors averaged over 10 runs for the entire population. Shaded region denotes 95% bootstrapped confidence interval. Evolution + learning robots tend to be bigger (a) along the evolution and wider in width (b) compared to robots evolved in Evolution only. Proportion (c) is the ratio of width and length of the robot morphology. Robots from both methods tend to have less number of bricks (d) & limbs (e) and more active hinges (f) over generations.
Fig. 10: (a), an example of the initial randomly generated 50 morphologies in a run, using (μ+λ)selection, 25 new off-springs were created. (b), the morphologies of best robots of each run for both control methods with the fitness value.
Fig. 11: Learning/evolving robots in a plain terrain. Morphologies changes over generations
V Conclusions and Future work
Firstly, if we measure time by the number of generations, learning boosts evolvability in terms of efficiency as well as efficacy, i.e., solution quality at termination, once its growth curve was steeper and ended higher than that of the Evolution Only method. Of course, this is not a surprise, since the learning version performs much more search steps. However, a learning trial (testing another controller) is much cheaper than an evolutionary trial (making another robot), so we can firmly conclude the advantage of adding lifetime-learning to an evolutionary robot system.
Secondly, we have witnessed a change in the evolved morphologies when life-time learning was applied. In this paper, we introduced a concept - Morphological Intelligence, and quantified it as the learning delta. The results show how the brain can shape the body and thus affects task performance which in turn changes the fitness values that define selection probabilities during evolution.
For future work, we will work on Lamarckian evolution which use the inherited brain as starting point and pass the learned traits to the next generation. It means the genotype of the brain of the population will be changed in the evolution process. In order to make this happen, we have to carefully think about a suitable genetic representation that allows us to change the genetic traits easily. Moreover, we will implement more complex tasks than just gait learning.


Malawi has one of the highest rates of death among infants and children under five years of age (69 and 110 per 1000 live births respectively in 2009).
Pneumonia (lung disease) is the leading cause of death with around 298 per 1000 children under the age of 5 diagnosed with pneumonia every year and a death rate between 2.7 and 13.2 per 1000 children. Exposure to smoke produced when biomass fuels (animal or plant material) are burned in open fires is a major avoidable risk factor for pneumonia. In Malawi, where at least 95% of households depend on biomass as their main source of fuel, biomass smoke exposure is likely to be responsible for this disease.
Efficient methods for reducing smoke exposure exist (e.g. ventilation, improved stoves, cleaner fuels, behaviour changes) but are out of reach for the majority due to many reasons that are mostly poverty related. The Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves was launched in 2010 to tackle this issue.
The main aim of the alliance is for 100 million homes to have clean and efficient stoves and fuels by 2020. However, there is very less evidence to know the potential benefits of such an approach.
This study will test an efficient and locally acceptable advanced cookstove that reduces smoke emissions and thereby prevent pneumonia in children.


text:
US Navy Ship Ross visits Batumi
The United States Ship Ross entered Georgia's Black Sea port of Batumi to mark "continued cooperation" between US and Georgia "by promoting regional peace and stability".
This is the ship's first visit to the country.
Its commander David Coles said "our allies in the Black Sea continue to play a key role in maintaining security in the European theater".
"The crew and I look forward to enhancing our interoperability in a dynamic environment as well as experiencing the rich history and culture in this region", he stated.
USS Ross is an Arleigh Burke-class guided missile destroyer of the United States Navy.
The ship is capable of conducting exercises and operations in areas such as anti-submarine warfare and ballistic missile defence.
While on patrol, the USS Ross will engage with NATO Allies and partners "to reaffirm the United States' commitment to strengthening ties, and to promote peace and stability in the region", the US Embassy to Georgia announced.
The Embassy also said that the port visit also provides American sailors an opportunity to explore local historical sites and build lasting partnerships with their Georgian Coast Guard counterparts.
In addition to tours of the ship, sailors from the USS Ross will play a friendly soccer match with the Georgian Coast Guard, a basketball game with Maritime Academy students, and will meet with local youth at American Corner in Batumi.
Source - Agenda.ge
Statement of "Tbilisi Tobacco"
How Much Are TBC Bank Group PLC Insiders Taking Off The Table?
Georgian MPs plan a visit to the US


Here is a fun caricature created by Zalo for a gift. The image shows a father and his son who have a hot rodding business.
Part of the brief was to include their barn/shop, the business name and the family crest, plus to show the two men in a fun way that showed the car going fast.
In this case Matt from Caricature King did a rough stick figure concept (yeah that's all I can draw!!) which was approved prior to the first draft based on that being supplied to the client.
I'll be happy to email you back once I give them their gifts on June 15th to let you know their reaction so you can pass that feedback along to Zalo. As for me, I couldn't be happier with it. Your customer service and ordering process is great. This being my second order, both orders went off flawlessly and I have no complaints. I think you handle things very well.
Again, I'll be sure to email you with Eric and Earl's reaction to the print after I give it to them. I'll take a picture of both of them holding it for your website.
Thank you so much, Matt! I can't wait to give them this gift.


What is the best method of re-synching the databases?
command to pull the data down from the master?
I have verified that during this time data was not sent over to the slave.
Re: tion Questions -Sync? Update?
binary logs of the master.
> binary logs of the master.
now that the data has been synced to between both servers.


Welcome to Career Guide. Every week, we'll highlight a new job from our Plant Connection job board. This week's position is Product Review Engineer for Boeing in Mascoutah, Illinois.
Applies basic knowledge of Boeing design and/or engineering principles to develop interim or final engineering solutions to product/process issues throughout production and/or for technical, operational and quality issues that cannot be resolved by the customer. Analyzes, conducts failure analysis, root cause analysis and troubleshoots to understand root cause. Provides assistance to identify solutions. Provides written dispositions for routine design non-conformances. Supports activities to identify deviations that could impact design intent and safety and product/process improvements. Develops routine customer correspondence for continued safe operation and maintenance of equipment. Participates in Material Review Boards and Integrated Product Teams (IPTs). Ensures supplier and build partner comply with Boeing standards. Represents the engineering community in the build through post production environment. Recommends simple non-destructive test procedures, tools, standards. Conducts simple static strength analysis to validate interim design repairs meet original design loads criteria. Identifies documents, analyzes reported problems and communicates deviations that could impact design intent and safety; recommends and manages resolution. Develops and implements product/process improvements. Supports Integrated Product Teams (IPT) and participates in design reviews. Represents the engineering community in the build through post production environment. Ensures supplier and build partner compliance with Boeing standards. Designs interim structural repairs and conducts static strength analysis.


text:
AyT GÉNOVA HIPOTECARIO VIII , FTH
Rating Action: Moody's upgrades 169 tranches in 96 Spanish RMBS deals
Rating Action: Moody's upgrades 184 tranches and places on review for upgrade 200 tranches in 160 Spanish RMBS and Auto and Consumer ABS deals
Announcement: Moody's: No rating impact on AyT Génova Hipotecario II, III, IV, VI, VII and VIII FTH following interest rate swap counterparty's replacement
Announcement: Moody's: Recent Spanish consumer protection laws will only have a limited negative effect on securitisation as new government forms
Rating Action: Moody's upgrades 200 tranches' ratings in 93 Spanish RMBS deals
MOODY'S ASSIGNS DEFINITIVE RATINGS TO FIVE SERIES OF SPANISH MORTGAGE-BACKED SECURITIES ISSUED BY AYT GENOVA HIPOTECARIO VIII
Madrid, June 01, 2006 -- Moody's Investors Service today assigned definitive credit ratings to five series of mortgage-backed securities ("Bonos de Titulización Hipotecaria") to be issued by AyT GENOVA HIPOTECARIO VIII Fondo de Titulización de Hipotecaria, a Spanish asset securitisation fund that has been created by Ahorro y Titulización, S.G.F.T, S.A. ("AyT").
Moody's has assigned the following ratings:
Aaa to the EUR 462.0 million Series A1 notes
Aaa to the EUR 1,575.0 million Series A2 notes
Aa3 to the EUR 21.0 million Series B notes
Baa1 to the EUR 21.0 million Series C notes
Ba3 to the EUR 21.0 million Series D notes
The definitive ratings address the expected loss posed to investors by the legal final maturity (15 May 2039). In Moody's opinion, the structure allows for timely payment of interest and ultimate payment of principal at par on or before the rated final legal maturity date, and not at any other expected maturity date. The ratings do not address the full redemption of the notes on the expected maturity date. Moody's ratings address only the credit risks associated with the transaction. Other non-credit risks have not been addressed, but may have a significant effect on yield to investors.
The fund will be established with the loans sold to the fund by AyT Genova I and by AyT Genova V, with the remaining loans issued by Barclays Bank SA. Barclays is securitising the loans from its Hipoteca Remunerada, a loan product which has very strong underwriting criteria as Barclays is targeting affluent clients in Spain.
According to Moody's, this deal benefits from several credit strengths including the following: (1) good quality collateral in terms of weighted average LTV (56.33%), seasoning (2.03 years) and geographical diversification. Some of the loans come from AyT Genova I and AyT Genova V current seasoned transactions; (2) interest rate swap to hedge interest rate risk in the transaction; (3) a reserve fund that is fully funded upfront to cover any potential shortfall in interest and principal; (4) an 18-month artificial write-off mechanism; (5) the fact that 100% of the loans are secured by first-lien residential mortgages; and (6) the quality of Barclays Bank S.A as originator and servicer.
However, Moody's notes that the deal also features credit weaknesses, notably: (1) lack of information (employment type); however, a penalty was accordingly applied when calculating the credit enhancement, (2) weak margin on the loans (43 bps over 12-month Euribor). This risk is sized in the subordination levels and in the reserve fund; (3) the fact that pro-rata amortisation of the Series B, C and D notes leads to reduced credit enhancement of the senior class in absolute terms. These increased risks were reflected in Moody's credit enhancement calculation; and (4) no limit has been established to the amount of loans for which maturity could be renegotiated, even though the extension of the maturity date could not go beyond April 2036.
The portfolio comprises 17,818 loans representing a provisional portfolio of EUR 2,388,500,356. The securitised products are first-lien mortgage loans granted to individuals, most of whom will use these loans to acquire or refurbish a primary residence. The loans have a weighted average seasoning of approximately 2.03 years. The original weighted average LTV is 62.35%. The current weighted average LTV is 56.33%.The mortgages consist of first charges on residential properties that are all believed to be owner-occupied. All the properties on which the mortgage securities have been granted are covered by property damage insurance and fire insurance.
Moody's based its ratings on (1) an evaluation of the underlying portfolio of mortgage loans securing the structure, and (2) the transaction's structural protections, which include the subordinate position of Series B with respect to Series A, the strength of the cash flows (including the reserve fund) and any excess spread available to cover losses.
Alberto Barbachano
Asst Vice President - Analyst
Structured Finance Group
Moody's Investors Service Espana, S.A.
SUBSCRIBERS: 44 20 7772 5454
Juan Pablo Soriano


Selling your Miami real estate property may be a tough job that may do. Especially if you've no idea or any experience in selling. And selling a property has an big difference in selling any products or services.
It is sensible to use a real estate agent if it is your occasion in george lindemann junior lists his property. The real estate professional will assist you in on the lookout for the home that must make sure in Miami real estate. But make sure to have the right choice. So take time in finding the right real estate agent, contact few real estate brokers and interview them so as to have the correct one.
Miami 1 of the of one of the most popular cities in the world, obviously you can has something for each individual. You can spend your days lazing on the beach or swimming each morning sparkling blue waters. Snorkeling, diving, water skiing, and yachting frequent popular workouts. Of course, the city has a large amount more provide than exactly the beaches and also the ocean. You will be inside a position to find main event dining, art galleries, a number of of approach nightlife in the united states. Clubs, bars, theaters, different entertainment venues abound.
There is only so much to see and do in California. It's no wonder has over 82 million visitors a miami beach property months. Some of the places not mentioned in any detail are Orlando site . of it's offerings, Key West, Lake Okeechobee, second largest freshwater lake the actual continental Usa.
Pick at the 5 such as most and conduct some inspection every single home. It's totally hire professional inspector to check if all facilities and amenities are all in good working predicament. Check internal and external part of the house. And as much as possible, it's also advisable to be there to look at the house look it ourselves. Make a comparison to all houses that anyone could have inspected and judge the best option for you and make sure to consider if it is worth purchasing.
Then practice LIVING that company. Make the decision to go for one's dreams, grab whatever you would like for your trip and then don't reminisce. When my sister and I embarked on our cross country trip, we knew that i weren't in order to have any fun if we looked down. We loaded all our stuff into storage (actually paid pertaining to to do it now for us) and put a couple bags and blankets within the trunk and drove from Los Angeles, CA to miami beach, Florida and for that first cross-country road trip! We had a fabulous time, consistently we did something unlike. And I was able to work my business while traveling which was such an additional tip!
If the relationship is clear and clean and nevertheless no visits or calls from any possible buyer, you should take some action in thinking what else you has the potential to sell your abode. Remember the longer the time you home in a bush for sale, the lesser the value it may have as time goes with. So don't let algae or dust to live in your home waiting lengthy time for any buyer.
Claudine contacted Wilzig, who has been instantly smitten by her father's work, so much so that she plans other exhibit of his circus scenes the new year.


text:
Yerevan Municipal Elections Were Not About Yerevan
Nikol Pashinyan Consolidates his Mastery of the Armenian Political Universe
A few concrete statements are in order to address the Yerevan Municipal elections of 2018. First, the newly-elected mayor, Hayk Marutyan, is not really relevant: those who voted for the My Step Alliance were not really voting for him or the My Step Alliance. Second, it was a foregone conclusion that the My Step Alliance would win, but the margin of victory surpassed both expectations and the body of polling that was conducted prior to the elections. And third, this election was not about Yerevan, the Council of Elders, or the Mayor: this election was about reifying Pashinyan's dominance of the Armenian political universe.
In democratic elections, the concept of a landslide is proportional and mediated by comparisons between the competing electoral actors. Extremely lopsided victories are rare, since distribution of power, interests, and social factions are relatively well-dispersed. The electoral outcome of the Yerevan Municipal elections, then, is not simply a landslide, when the victor secures 81 percent of the vote, in a pool of 12 competing actors, while the runner-up (Prosperous Armenia Party, BHK/PAP) barely attains 7 percent, and the third place finisher (Luys Alliance) manages 5 percent.
Such a margin of victory in a democratic election is purely obscene: this was not a landslide, this was sheer and utter dominance of the political realm. Or, to put it in another way, this electoral outcome confirms one specific point: Nikol Pashinyan is the only political force in Armenian politics.
Multitude of factors, of course, explain both the context which brought about this electoral outcome, as well as the very nature of electoral politics in Armenian political culture. Considering the fact that Armenia is not a consolidated democracy, but is rather in the process of democratizing, this outcome, while impressive, is still understandable.
First, Armenia does not have institutionalized or consolidated political parties, and in this sense, the Armenian voter neither cares for the political party or the platform of that party. Thus, since party identity is irrelevant to the Armenian electorate, what explains their voting behavior? It's quite simple: personalization. Armenian politics is heavily personalized, and within this context, the Yerevan voter was not voting for the mayoral candidate, his party, his ideas, or his platform. The Yerevan voter's behavior was specifically defined by his or her admiration of Pashinyan. Second, due to the personalized nature of Armenian politics, the political lexicon frames political competition between individuals, as opposed to parties, ideas, policies, etc. Thus, the Yerevan voter was voting to consolidate an individual's (Pashinyan's) dominance of the political universe. Third, while the process of the election was highly democratic,[1] the culture of the electoral process and the political discourse that shaped it was not so much. There was almost no cogent debate over policies, strategic planning, or the overall developmental proposals for Yerevan. Instead, we saw intense, personalized attacks between the candidates, attacks that were divorced from political discourse, and entrenched in ugly and childish vitriol about aesthetics, levels of masculinity, and combative threats that were not only déclassé, but beneath the dignity of democratic competition.
These simple assessments, then, bring us to one important development: the lack of sophistication in the voter produces a form of voting behavior that remains singular and uni-dimensional. And this is why the electoral outcome was a foregone conclusion. The unqualified adoration of Pashinyan has become the singular and uni-dimensional motivator for the Armenian voter. In this context, when Pashinyan embodies the party, the alliance, the platform, the ideas, the policies, that is, when he embodies anything and everything that makes up the political realm, it then becomes obvious why the margin of victory was so prolific.
While glorification of Pashinyan has become the new norm, a developing democracy cannot position itself, albeit unknowingly, in a trap where singular support for an extremely popular and democratic leader actually hampers democratic pluralism.
The considerations of this are two-fold. First, while glorification of Pashinyan has become the new norm, a developing democracy cannot position itself, albeit unknowingly, in a trap where singular support for an extremely popular and democratic leader actually hampers democratic pluralism. Second, while the first point is duly noted, at this stage, the Armenian voter is banking on this popular leader to transition the country into a consolidated democracy; once that is done, then the electorate can address the preferred level of pluralism. The discourse, then, is not about whether Armenia should have a pluralistic political field; that's an obvious question that answers itself. The more complex question is if the political field, naturally and through the will of the electorate, becomes less conducive to pluralism. That remains the more intricate question.
The answer to such a question, however, is not one that can be answered by political leaders, regardless of how popular they are, but rather, it is one that must be addressed by an evolving political culture. The Armenian voter must become more sophisticated, the political parties and forces must become institutionalized, and political competition must no longer be personalized, but rather, be shaped by differences and compromises over policies and ideas. Is Pashinyan aware of this? Of course he is. However, he doesn't have the luxury of addressing this, at this stage, since he is too busy transitioning Armenia into a consolidated democracy. And from Pashinyan's lens, more than anything else, he needs the overwhelming mandate of the people, as a powerful political tool, to fortify the democratization process.
This narrative, then, brings us to another important point: the Armenian voter equates the strengthening of Pashinyan's political power with the strengthening of Armenian democracy. Thus, while most political scientists and observers find unease with the growing power of a popular leader, to the average Armenian, this is not so much a problem, but more so, a necessity. The formula has become straightforward: a strong Pashinyan equals a stronger Armenian democracy. And this goes back to our initial discussion of the political realm being personalized—Pashinyan not only embodies the Velvet Revolution, he also embodies the entire process of Armenia's democratization. For the Armenian voter, the demarcating line is blurred: the person and the process have become one and the same. What are the implications of this for the immediate future of Armenian politics, and more importantly, how will this effect snap parliamentary elections that will allow the democratization process to finalize itself?
While these forces competed with each other in the municipal election, they, nonetheless, remain united in their opposition to the RPA. Further, as their electoral performance showed, they are actually quite irrelevant as independent political forces when not aligned with Pashinyan. From an analytical standpoint, then, Pashinyan's mandate against the RPA in forcing snap elections remains qualified by every single political development in the country.
For all means and purposes, Pashinyan framed the electoral outcome of the Yerevan Municipal elections as being a referendum on the potential and pending snap parliamentary elections. By demonstrating an unmatched scope of popular support that is now verified through an electoral process, Pashinyan has formulated for himself a second set of tools to push for snap elections: a verifiable mandate. Thus, between the informal mandate of being able to instantly garner hundreds and thousands of supporters to the streets, and this formal mandate of utter electoral dominance, Pashinyan now possesses a substantive tool in his arsenal to more intensely pressure the numerically-dominant Republican Party (RPA) in Parliament in forcing snap elections. Namely, if the RPA had doubts about the level and scope of Pashinyan's popularity, considering the anecdotal assessments that filling up Republic Square is a misleading indicator, those have been profoundly squashed by a performance that garnered 81 percent of the vote. Further, fusing this with the votes attained by his Parliamentary partners—we have only noted the relative conflict between the mayoral candidates, failing to note that these political forces are actually allies in the National Assembly—the outcome is an even bigger mandate.
The Luys Alliance, for example, which is formed of Republic Party and Bright Armenia, are allies in the Pashinyan-led Yelk bloc in Parliament; if qualifying, in a theoretical sense, the total vote for Yelk as a bloc, that would reach the 86 percentile. Further, the Prosperous Armenia Party, which leads the Tsarukyan bloc in Parliament, is also a coalition partner with Yelk, and in this context, the 7 percent that they secured is an extension of Pashinyan's mandate against the RPA. Thus, while these forces competed with each other in the municipal election, they, nonetheless, remain united in their opposition to the RPA. Further, as their electoral performance showed, they are actually quite irrelevant as independent political forces when not aligned with Pashinyan. From an analytical standpoint, then, Pashinyan's mandate against the RPA in forcing snap elections remains qualified by every single political development in the country.
The more nuanced assessments that have been suggested in questioning the scope of Pashinyan's mandate as an extension of this electoral outcome has been voter turnout. While I have not seen any direct assertions that Pashinyan's mandate might be challenged or marginalized, there has been, however, some commentary on attempting to understand how, with a voter turnout of near 44 percent, one can speak of a broad mandate? While this remains a thought-provoking question, from the scope of political science, however, it suggests a healthy misunderstanding of both voter behavior as well as electoral participation.
Three important variables to take into consideration. First, as it has been extensively noted, the voter turnout of some 44 percent is actually higher than the 41 percent of the previous Yerevan Municipal elections. More importantly, however, observers are falsely equating municipal elections with national elections, thus presuming the same voter turnout. This, usually, is not tenable in democratic societies, because voter turnouts are almost always much lower in municipal and local elections than they are in national elections. In this context, to concentrate on the 44 percent without qualifying its municipal level obfuscates the analytical scope. Second, a flawed assessment has popped up that contends that if only 44 percent showed up, that means the remaining 56 percent might not give their mandate to Pashinyan, and as such, 81 percent electoral victory is misleading, when 56 percent of the eligible voting public did not participate. Not only is this assessment nonsensical, but it also indicates inept understanding of electoral politics. More specifically, it indicates lack of understanding between the concepts of apathy and complacency. In many democratic elections, for example, voter turnout is low due to apathy, a serious problem, for example, in American politics. Between indifference to political developments, and lack of care for the political system, many citizens in post-industrial liberal democracies don't care to vote. This is the problem of voter apathy that explains low turnout. The insinuation or suggestion that voter turnout was at 44 percent in the Yerevan elections because of voter apathy is untenable. A society that undertook a mass public uprising to supplant a patronal political system cannot be apathetic; it makes neither conceptual nor empirical sense.
Voter turnout, then, is better explained by complacency; and complacency is far more common in instances of political or electoral victory, as the electorate feels relatively satisfied, and as such, remains complacent. In the case of the Yerevan elections, while survey data has not been produced on this, I am fairly confident that voter turnout at 44 percent is better explained by voter complacency. The logic of the complacent voter is straightforward: the political field satisfies my views, things are going quite well, and furthermore, I can sit this one out because the electoral outcome is going to be consistent with my expectations. As such, because most presumed that electoral victory for the My Step Alliance was a foregone conclusion, and this was consistent with their expectations, they remained complacent and did not participate. Complacency presumes that their candidate(s) of choice is going to win regardless of their participation, and as such, they do not participate due to satisfaction. And in the case of the Yerevan elections, there were no electoral threats to the Pashinyan-endorsed alliance, which re-confirmed the assumption that a victory was a foregone conclusion: without any serious competitors, the complacent voter remains very complacent.
[Pashinyan] definitely perceives himself, first and foremost, as a conduit between the common man and the corridors of power. That he relishes in his interactions with the people is thoroughly evident, and now that he also dominates the corridors of power, the common voters feels a strong sense of efficacy when voting for Pashinyan.
Taking into consideration the case of voter complacency, this brings us to our third point: not only does Pashinyan have a broad mandate, but he can further broaden his mandate by tapping into the 56 percent of the Yerevan electorate that did not participate. More specifically, since we are qualifying a healthy number of these nonparticipants as complacent, they remain ripe as an electoral field that can be harnessed come the parliamentary snap elections. Furthermore, to the complacent voter, there is a big difference between voting for a municipal alliance connected to Pashinyan and directly voting for a party list that is being actively led by Pashinyan. Of the 848,343 eligible voters in Yerevan, 370,323 cast their votes, of which 294,109 voted for the My Step Alliance.[2] Collectively, there remains 478,020 eligible Yerevan voters that did not participate, an extraordinary pool that Pashinyan can very easily tap into for the parliamentary elections.
When observing the disaggregated data broken down by districts, the complacency discourse becomes even more consistent. The Kentron district, which is the most affluent and highest-educated, per capita, had a relatively low turnout at 42.83 percent, as did the affluent district of Arabkir, for example, at 43.36 percent. The prevailing research on electoral behavior consistently demonstrates high voter turnout in more affluent, higher-educated regions of the given electoral field. But in this instance, the more industrial districts of Yerevan, or those more toward the outskirts, actually had higher voter turnout then Kentron. This is clearly indicative of voter complacency, when the higher-educated, affluent sectors of society have lower turnout then the middle or lower sectors; in cases of apathy, for example, it is the opposite: the affluent perform highly, while the middle and lower classes refrain. In this context, Nubarashen, for example, had a higher turnout at 45.38 percent, as did Shengavit at 44.48 percent, both industrial, less-affluent districts of Yerevan. Rising suburbs of Yerevan also had higher turnouts than the affluent Kentron, with Davtashen at 46.92 percent and Avan at 46.49 percent. The analytical considerations here suggest that the 81 percent performance is quite healthy and should hold consistently if the voter turnout is higher.
Barring the formation of a new political party or political leaders that can miraculously challenge Pashinyan's immense popularity, there is very little maneuvering room for other political forces in the electoral fields of Yerevan. Supplementing this general discourse is Pashinyan's intrinsic talent of being an excellent campaigner, whether it revolves around motivating civic society, holding rallies, or organizing mass gatherings. He definitely perceives himself, first and foremost, as a conduit between the common man and the corridors of power. That he relishes in his interactions with the people is thoroughly evident, and now that he also dominates the corridors of power, the common voters feels a strong sense of efficacy when voting for Pashinyan. It is this unique ability to effect efficacy that empowers the personalized relationship between Pashinyan and the Armenian voter.
1- Only 121 violations were reported to the Prosecutor's Office, vast majority of which were minor violations that had no effect on the integrity of the process or the result.
2- https://www.evnreport.com/elections/yerevan-municipal-elections-2018


As uncertainty surrounding the fate of big British high street names continues, new research from Groupon reveals the most pressing issues facing local retailers. Four in ten (40%) independent retailers don't have a dedicated website, and shockingly 97% don't have a dedicated app for their store.
The research also shows a stark contrast between the opinion of local businesses and consumers. Almost two thirds (60%) of shoppers in the UK are worried about the post-Brexit future of their local high street and over a third (39%) say they've noticed many local businesses start to close since Brexit was announced. However, these figures differ greatly with nearly three-quarters (71%) of local retailers who say they have no specific concerns or feel positive about the future of their business in a post-Brexit economy.
The research, which questioned 2,010 shoppers and 1,000 local business decision makers nationwide, also found that over half of local retailers (59%) say they have no plans to adapt their strategy for the UK's eventual departure from the EU in March 2019. This may be cause for significant concern in light of wider independent research which suggests that local businesses will be hit hardest by Brexit disruption.
Despite a strong consumer appetite, independent retailers say the biggest challenges they face are competing with big chain retailers (40%), retaining local customers (38%), and competing with online/app/mobile commerce (35%). But given that three fifths (57%) of all independent retailers say they've never had loyalty scheme and don't plan to implement one; and over a quarter (26%) admit they've no strategy in place for attracting new customers, these figures may come as no surprise. With local retailers calculating that over half (58%) of their customers are locals and over half (59%) of their revenues are made from local custom, they are undoubtedly missing a missing an opportunity to grow and retain this crucial audience.
Currently, shoppers are still spending significantly more money at large chains rather than local stores on average each week – £42.70 vs. £10.60 respectively. But all is not lost as consumers say they do want to support local businesses, with almost half (47%) saying it's important for them to shop locally. Consumers in Northern Ireland (65%) and Yorkshire and Humberside (58%) are the keenest to do so.
Overall, shoppers say they are passionate about their local independent businesses because they like their proximity to their home (43%), the way they make their community unique (74%) and want to improve their local economy (47%). Over a third (41%) of shoppers say they would be more likely to shop local if a loyalty scheme was on offer, but that currently many local businesses don't provide them (14%) or promotional discounts (18%).
For more information on how you can work with Groupon as a business or retailer go to Grouponworks.co.uk.


Frederick Lawrence is currently serving his fifth academic year as president; trustees to start international search to find replacement.
Brandeis University President Frederick Lawrence will step down from his position effective at the end of the current academic year.
Lawrence, who made the announcement on Friday, is one of the country's leading experts in civil rights and the eighth president of Brandeis University. He currently is serving his fifth academic year as president.
Brandeis, founded in 1948 and now one of the country's leading research institutions, is the only nonsectarian Jewish-sponsored college or university in the country.
In a letter to the university community, Lawrence said he was "tremendously proud of the ways Brandeis has grown and thrived" during his tenure.
"Brandeis is a strong, vital, and dynamic institution, and I am profoundly grateful for the opportunity to serve alongside so many extraordinary students, faculty, alumni, staff, parents, and friends of the university," Lawrence said in his letter.
Lawrence said he plans to return to full-time scholarship and teaching as a senior research scholar at Yale Law School. Prior to becoming president of Brandeis, Lawrence had served as dean and Robert Kramer Research Professor of Law at George Washington University Law School, from 2005 to 2010.
Lawrence also has been credited with presiding over the reopening of the Rose Art Museum on the Brandeis campus, putting an end to a bruising controversy over whether to sell its unique and valuable collection of modern art.
The trustees said they will start an international search to find a new president. Lisa Lynch, the university's current provost, has been appointed to serve as interim president, effective July 1, 2015. Lynch, an internationally renowned economist is the former dean of the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis.


Some Like It Happy hopes to give strength to its readers, a strength that may have been lost along the way.
A native Oregonian and as of two years ago, a fully fledged New Yorker. Moving to New York to attend an acting school, Annie Behrens (I'm writing this and I will occasionally type in 3rd person to feel important) attained a confidence to pursue any passion she (told ya) had. Comedy and making people happy are her two favorite past times. I combined the two and TA DA! Some Like It Happy was born.
I have always felt a need to help and guide others. I have been trained in youth crisis management and youth mental health and not just through my own experience. I volunteered at Youthline in Portland from ages 15 to 18. I answered calls, texts, chats and emails from kids and teens alike, as they were in distress and I was able to find them short-term and long-term solutions.
I was unlucky enough to have my own bout with mental health issues but also lucky enough to have received treatment starting with a therapist at 11 years old. I had my own hike throughout most of my adolescence into adulthood. But with every battle she gained a new expertise as well as a bunch of stories that she wants to share with all of you.
In sharing these vulnerable experiences she hopes to bring healing words to her readers. She firmly believes in living a healthy life inside and out. Some Like It Happy promotes emotional and physical wellness through a variety of topics and situations.
Although her writing is mostly geared towards a female audience, she believes that these articles can be applied to any reader.


Useful advice: Wear comfortable clothing and shoes, use the guides that will accompany you to discover the most beautiful corners of the park.
A few minutes from the centre of Asiago, in the woods of Pöslen, a wonderful world populated by gnomes awaits you. Yes, gnomes, these small creatures from Nordic countries have chosen this lovely landscape immerged in the plateau of the 7 municipalities as their home.
To feel this fairy-tale atmosphere and wander in the village of the "Small People", we suggest that you keep quiet and delicately walk through the dense fir woods and green fields. Do not be surprised if you meet magical creatures, like Siben, the mascot gnome of the plateau, and other fairy tale figures such as elves and fairies that may suddenly appear from their hideaways in the trees and spy on you.
This magic place dedicated to children, but not only, is inside a 90,000 squared meter park. In the Village of the Gnomes you will find their houses, and even their dens, still lived in... The small people live hidden among the woods, working hard and loving the peace and animals. Be careful not to scare these incredible and ancient creatures: that are friendly but also notoriously rude and may play a trick on you!
Beautiful stroll among the trees and the houses of the gnomes, do not miss a trip to the little waterfall and the pond in the summer.


Hi Guys!! I apologize for I have been MIA (missing in action) for the past week or so. It was such a stressful week for me so I thought, maybe I needed to take time off for myself and really think deeply. Anyway, I will share that piece one of these days.
But for now, let me share with you my glam bag for this month!
City Color Cosmetics Highlight Trio – 3 gorgeous shimmer shades that also work as eye shadows.
REN Skincare Evercalm Global Protection Day Cream – They had us at anti-aging. Plus, the super lush formula absorbs instantly leaving your skin soft, silky and residue-free.
Moroccanoil Moroccanoil Treatment – Shine on! It's the original – and best – argan oil treatment that's won countless awards for its insane hair-perfecting power. Just one use transforms lackluster locks into the super shiny strands of your dreams. It's also a magical multitasker – the all-in-one product works overtime to condition, style and finish your hair.
tarte cosmetics LipSurgence™ lip crème in wonder – Eco-chic, cruelty-free products full of good-for-you ingredients.
Luxie Beauty Dreamcatcher Tapered Highlighter Brush 522 – When it comes to multitasking, this brush is boss! It contours, highlights, blends, and sets under-eye concealer.
Great bag! I wish it wasn't so expensive for Canadians!


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Tatian's Travel Specialty Groups
Historic Medieval Town Dubbed the "Venice of the North"
Bruges, Belgium is a historic town that may remind some travelers of Venice. Initially built as protection from invaders, canals run throughout the city.
Much of Bruges's architecture is preserved from the Medieval Ages, giving the town an abundance old-world charm. A celebration of sorts, called "The Procession of the Holy Blood," is held annually, with locals attending in "ancient cult and knight garments."
Photo credit: Smabs Sputzer (1956-2017) on VisualHunt.com / CC BY
Home to a number of beautiful landmarks, visitors have a number of significant sites to choose from, including the Belfry, a medieval bell tower located in the market square, St. Salvator Cathedral, the Basilica of the Holy Blood, and even Choco-Story, a museum dedicated to chocolate.
Photo credit: VISITFLANDERS on Visual hunt /CC BY-NC-ND
Beer connoisseurs can also stop by De Halve Maan, a centuries-old brewery that was first opened in 1564 and still operates today. The brewery produces Brugse Zot, a beer only made in Bruges, and offers museum tours that showcase its history, as well as old brewing methods.
Hero Photo Credit: mclcbooks on Visualhunt / CC BY-NC-ND
Inquire about Anywhere
© Tatian's Travel 2021
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info@tatianstravel.com
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During the interview, ask JS Contractor directly about salary, benefits, Overtime opportunity, if there is a placement fee, etc. This is a legit job hiring, kindly check below for the POEA license status of this recruitement agency:... Who We Are. JS Contractor, Inc. was formally founded in September 27, 1977 and is the first land-based recruitment agency in the Philippines to be accredited with ISO 9002 standards.
Welcome to the Intramuros google satellite map! This place is situated in Manila, Ncr, Philippines, its geographical coordinates are 14° 36' 0" North, 120° 58' 0" East and its original name (with diacritics) is Intramuros.
The source said it was a representative of JS Contractor and an official of the Overseas Workers Welfare Office (Owwa) who accompanied Tarongoy's wife, Ivy Grace, to Manila right after it was confirmed that Tarongoy was the Filipino abducted in Baghdad, Iraq.


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Breuna is een gemeente in de Duitse deelstaat Hessen, en maakt deel uit van het district Kassel.
Breuna telt  inwoners.

Zie ook
 Militaire begraafplaats in Breuna

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Famous Dutch violinist Andre Rieu, founder of the Johann Strauss Orchestra, will come to Bucharest next week to hold a press conference in which he will announce their first concert in Romania, in 2015.
The date of the concert has not been announced yet. However, Andre Rieu will have several concerts in other cities in the region, in the second half of May 2015, according to his official webpage. He will perform on May 20 on Budapest Arena, on May 22 on Prague's O2 Arena, and in the Polish cities of Krakow, Lodz and Gdansk, on May 28, 29 and 30.
He might choose Romania's National Arena for his concert in Bucharest, although no public information on this concert exists.


"Iya dari pengembangan roket Lapan sebelumnya. Mereka sudah berhasil, peluncurannya sudah lurus. Cuman isiannya, pendorongnya itu masih dikembangkan terus," ucap Kadispen TNI AU Marsekal Pertama (Marsma) Hadi Tjahjanto saat dihubungi, Jakarta, Selasa (25/02/2014).
"2 atau 3 tahun ke depan isiannya atau propelannya itu sudah ditemukan akan dibuat uji coba lagi. Kalau memang bagus akan ditawarkan pada BUMN atau Bumnis (Badan Usaha Milik Negara Industri Strategis)," imbuh pria berkumis ini.
Apakah pengembangan ini untuk rudal jarak sedang atau jauh? "Nanti kalau propelannya itu sudah teruji tinggal isiannya mau dibuat jarak sedang atau jauh. Kalau nama rudal nunggu sudah jadi baru dari BUMN dengan Kemenhan yang nanti ngasih nama rudalnya," jawab Hadi.
"Untuk 10 sampai 100 km itu perlu kendali jarak sedang, sekarang kita lagi diproses. Mudah-mudahan segera melengkapi sistem pertahanan kita," kata Putu saat menerima 16 unit pesawat T-50i dari Korea Aerospace Industry (KAI) di Lanud Halim Perdakusuma, Jakarta Timur, Kamis 13 Februari 2014.
As commercial technologies become more advanced and widely available, adversaries are rapidly developing capabilities that put our forces at risk. To counter these threats, the U.S. military is developing systems-of-systems concepts in which networks of manned and unmanned platforms, weapons, sensors, and electronic warfare systems interact over robust satellite and tactical communications links.
These approaches offer flexible and powerful options to the warfighter, but the complexity introduced by the increase in the number of employment alternatives creates a battle management challenge. Current battle management systems often lack the benefit of automated aids to help comprehend and adapt to dynamic situations.
Further complicating matters, in future conflicts U.S. forces may face degradation or denial of critical communications capabilities essential for coordination and shared situation understanding. With both the complexity of coordinating innovative systems of systems, and the sophistication of adversary capabilities expected to grow, automated decision aids become vital.
"We're looking for innovative algorithms from the planning and control theory communities that go beyond current algorithms, many of which assume assured communications in the tactical environment," said Craig Lawrence, DARPA program manager.
The program envisions two phases. Phase 1 focuses on technology development-planning, control, and situation understanding algorithms, and design of appropriate human-machine interfaces-and system engineering.
Phase 2 plans for a team to build an integrated DBM capability to manage air-to-air and air-to-ground combat in a contested environment and to demonstrate that capability in large-scale simulation and live fly events.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has proposed cuts in military spending that include further reductions in troop strength and force structure in every military service in the coming year as part of an effort to prioritize U.S. strategic interests in the face of reduced resources after more than a decade of war.
At a Pentagon news conference today detailing President Barack Obama's proposed Pentagon budget for fiscal year 2015, Hagel called the reductions — including shrinking the Army to its smallest size since before World War II and eliminating an entire fleet of Air Force fighter planes — "difficult choices" that will change defense institutions for years to come, but designed to leave the military capable of fulfilling U.S. defense strategy and defending the homeland against strategic threats.
Under a Pentagon budget that will shrink by more than $75 billion over the next two years — with deeper cuts expected if sequestration returns in fiscal year 2016 — Hagel and other senior defense and military officials acknowledged that some of the budget choices will create additional risks in certain areas.
Some of that risk, Hagel said, is associated with a sharp drawdown in the size of the Army, which the proposed budget calls for reducing to as low as 440,000 active duty soldiers from the current size of 520,000, while ensuring the force remains well trained and equipped.
The budget request calls for special operations forces to grow by nearly 4,000 personnel, bringing the total to 69,700, a reflection of the asymmetrical threats the nation is likely to face in the future, Hagel said.
The proposed budget also envisions a 5-percent reduction in the Army National Guard and Army Reserve. "While it is true that reserve units are less expensive when they are not mobilized, our analysis shows that a reserve unit is roughly the same cost as an active duty unit when mobilized and deployed," Hagel said.
In addition, the Army Guard's Apache attack helicopters would be transferred to the active force, while Black Hawk helicopters would be transferred to the National Guard, part of a broader realignment of Army aviation designed to modernize the fleet and increase capability.
Within the Air Force, the defense budget calls for saving $3.5 billion by retiring the A-10 fleet and replacing it with the F-35 by the early 2020s.
"The A-10 is a 40-year old, single-purpose airplane originally designed to kill enemy tanks on a Cold War battlefield," Hagel said. "It cannot survive or operate effectively where there are more advanced aircraft or air defenses." In addition, the service also will retire the 50 year-old U-2 surveillance plane in favor of the unmanned Global Hawk.
Hagel warned that much deeper cuts in Air Force structure and modernization will be necessary if sequestration is not avoided in 2016.
The Defense Department is asking Congress for another round of base closings and realignments in 2017.
Hagel said most of the recommendations in the budget were accepted by senior military officers. Addressing reporters alongside him, Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the spending plan reflects a balancing of the military while ensuring it remains the world's finest.
"It reflects in real terms how we're reducing our cost and making sure the force is in the right balance," Dempsey said.
Dempsey and Hagel will testify on the budget before Congress next week. Lawmakers will have the final say on spending decisions.
"This is the first time in 13 years we will be presenting a budget to Congress that is not a war footing budget," Hagel noted.
"Development and production of Akash weapon system with the active participation of DRDO labs, Public Sector Units (PSUs), Ordnance Factories, National R&D Laboratories, academic Institutions and about 200 private industries is yet another symbol of India's strength in making indigenous weapon systems", stated Shri Avinash Chander, Scientific Adviser to Raksha Mantri and Secretary Dept of Defence R&D, congratulating the production agencies, Indian Army and DRDO team. "The successful trials show the continuing excellence of Indian weapon systems".
Akash is India's first indigenously designed, developed and produced air defence system Surface to Air missile capable of engaging aerial threats upto a distance of approximately 25 kms. The multi target, multi directional, all weather air-defense system consisting of surveillance and tracking radars, control centers and ground support systems mounted on high mobility vehicles for the "Army" version of Akash is designed to enable integration with other air defense command and control networks through secured communication links.
The total production value of Akash air defence systems cleared for induction by Indian Army and Indian Air force is more than Rs 23,000 crore.
Sh. G Chandramouli, Project Director Akash supervised the overall trial operations in the presence of senior army officials and officials from BDL and BEL who are attending the trials.
Lockheed Martin has recently demonstrated the Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM) dual-mode guidance section engaging a laser-designated moving target during an internally funded flight test at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla.
The rail-mounted JAGM guidance section flew six kilometers, engaged its precision-strike, semi-active laser and hit the moving target. The flight test, which was part of Lockheed Martin's internal research and development program, is an important risk reduction milestone critical to Lockheed Martin's performance on the U.S. Army's 27-month Continued Technology Development (CTD) program.
"This flight test demonstrates the maturity of Lockheed Martin's JAGM solution, and our readiness to enter production upon completion of the Army's CTD program," said Frank St. John, vice president of tactical missiles and combat maneuver systems at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.
Prior to the flight test, Lockheed Martin completed an extensive Critical Design Review demonstrating that the dual-mode design meets all customer-specified requirements. The dual-mode seeker features the HELLFIRE precision-strike semi-active laser and the all-weather fire-and-forget LONGBOW millimeter wave radar sensors demonstrated in prior JAGM guided flights.
Lockheed Martin's JAGM guidance section will be manufactured on the existing HELLFIRE production line. The modularity and open architecture of Lockheed Martin's JAGM design readily support a low-risk spiral to a tri-mode seeker, should the Army's Incremental Acquisition Strategy require it in the future.
Platforms for JAGM include the U.S. Army's AH-64 Apache attack helicopter and MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aerial system. Lockheed Martin's JAGM is also compatible with other HELLFIRE platforms.
The helicopter industry has been marked with notable ups and downs in 2013, both requested orders in transitioning economies and terminations in the West, such as in North America, the largest helicopter market in the world. The dialogue between industry and customers is therefore becoming increasingly challenging, blurring potential opportunities for OEMs on the short and medium term.
A new Frost & Sullivan Market Insight, "Global Helicopter & Systems Market: Capturing Growth Opportunities across the Rotorcraft Industry", highlights the progressive decrease of helicopter deliveries across Western Regions, while substantial growth is registered in Asia-Pacific, Central Asia and the Middle-East – as part of these regions' military modernization program and investments in civilian infrastructure.
In the context of the existing biggest helicopter fleets, North America and Europe hold the most significant opportunities when it comes to aftermarket support, with a notable CAGR of 2.59 percent in North America between 2014 and 2022. The cumulated market size across North America is expected to account for $58.05 billion, whereas European aftermarket support will reach at least $23.1 billion.
The ongoing platform renewal cycle initiated ten years ago is presently driving several opportunities among different services segments. In the light of shrinking budgets, platform retrofit is being preferred against new platform acquisition across Western military and paramilitary end users. As a result, system integration opportunities during platform upgrades are expected to rise steadily at a CAGR of 2.71 percent in North America and 4.3 percent in Europe. Both regions present an aggregated market size of $9.37 billion for 2014-2022.
On the other hand, helicopter maintenance and upgrades present interesting prospects in the medium term for new systems adoption, with avionics and mission systems. However, the line between platform acquisition and maintenance business models is becoming increasingly blurry in the Western regions, and market players are currently working on new business models options.
Emerging markets comprise significant opportunities among new helicopter procurements, with a forecast market size of $146.84 billion between 2014 and 2022 for military and civil new platform deliveries, and a related market size of $46.33 billion for service support during the same period.
Price sensitivity is one of the most significant challenges being assessed by potential buyers, closely followed by technology transfer issues. Budget constraints and foreign military sales (FMS) also trigger potential new strategies from U.S traditional FMS packages.
Reinforcing bilateral trade and R&D could be one way to meet offset and foreign investment policies for emerging helicopter OEMs and system integrators. Other approaches may include implementing the theoretical concept of open innovation at the platform system level, or strengthening ties across helicopter logistic and maintenance support through common distribution channels.


Tabitha designed these for her final show and I translated it into knitting for the collars cuffs and jacket banding,yarn sponsered by Designer Yarns,thankyou David.
Those that know me well, know that since coming to live here in the North Pennines I have become a yarn producer and my BFL yarn and Zwartbles( astunning natural chocolate colour) were used to produce a blanket for the new Prince of the Realm.
The blue faced leicester was left natural and knitted in a modular raised slip stitch design to denote the hills and valleys here in Harwood where the sheep live.
Prince Charles does an awful lot for the hill farmers here and I hope he us thrilled to see a product that comes from the fleece of their daily endeavours.
My yarn range is tiny and when it is gone II REALLY is gone.
We had our story in the local paper and a shot of the blanket,here it is,with the farmers who produce the yarn outside the village cafe who sell the yarn and with the knitting Ladies from my class who knitted it up.
Yarn for those of you who cannot get up here to buy it will be for sale online.
The BFL has had some dyed in natural plant dyes ie madder.
Kits for this cowl are for sale via me or at Farfield Mill where my studio is.
Hi Chrissie! Thanks for your comment! The yarn is Visjö Karamell Tåke (http://www.tantthea.se/garn/ull/visjo/ostgota-visjo-karamell-take-gra-gron.html).


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