Vulnerability,Partnerships and the Pursuit of Survival: Urban Livelihoods and Apprenticeship Contracts in a West African City

This paper analyses local level apprenticeship contracts and networks to highlight informal urban livelihoods within the context of socio-economic vulnerability and wider contemporary changes taking place in Koforidua, Ghana. It does so by specifically examining the complex entanglements of interpersonal relationships that characterize apprenticeship contracts within which home-based entrepreneurs and artisans in Koforidua engage in to sustain both current livelihoods, as well as to shore themselves against socio-economic vulnerability triggered in part by adjustment. As a result of the changing geography of the city, network entanglements, comprising resilient ties and egalitarian relations, have become vital to urban livelihoods in this community. However, apprenticeship contracts and the networks they engender can be a double-edged sword. For instance, demands of reciprocity or support from co-network members, neighbours and family, can be so taxing that some individuals opt out of the network. This tension notwithstanding, this paper contends that apprenticeship contracts and the network spaces they create have created a new social cohesion and community that transcend the traditionally known spaces of social support, i.e. ethnic ties, family ties or even institutional support.     

Understanding governance and networks: EU-US interactions and the regulation of genetically modified organisms

EU-US (European Union-United States) interactions in relation to the regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been examined in detail in recent years. To do this scholars have tended to focus on a small number of high profile processes, such as the formal complaint of the US to the World Trade Organisation regarding the regulation of GMOs in the Europe. It is important to analyse developments of this kind but overemphasis on them has also lead to a distorted view of the case and a failure to appreciate the significance of other, less visible, types of interaction. In this paper we focus instead on trying to understand the roles played by various EU-US transnational networks—The Transatlantic Business Dialogue, The Transatlantic Economic Partnership, The Transatlantic Consumer Dialogue, The Transatlantic Environmental Dialogue and the EU-US Consultative Forum on Biotechnology. These networks have been trying to shape the regulation of GMOs in both jurisdictions since the mid 1990s. By analysing them through a ‘governance lens’ we find that we can better understand EU-US interactions and the dynamics and influences around the regulation of GMOs. This gives us valuable insights into processes of contemporary governance.     

探测地雷技术研究综述

高敏感度、高可靠度、低花费传感器是全自动或半自动探雷机器人的首要和绝对的选择。当前,有许多技术能够被选来综合使用以满足上述的要求。金属探测器是一种传统的、成熟可靠的探测技术。但是,现在多种地雷含有少量的金属或者不包含任何金属,造成了用金属探测器探雷的困难。目前迫切需要研究发展新颖的探测技术以消除100万颗地雷对许多国家的影响。     

四种新型土壤墒情传感器的对比分析

土壤墒情监测工作日益得到重视。在北京上庄试验站选择四种不同工作原理和型号的土壤墒情传感器进行了为期半年的对比分析测试,利用监测数据对土壤墒情传感器的稳定性、灵敏性、准确率三个指标进行了分析,结果表明各类传感器在监测效果方面表现各有优缺点,均表现出了较好的稳定性,对降水反应也良好,准确率略有差别,监测数据基本在烘干法值附近上下波动。通过对比分析研究,对了解土壤墒情传感器性能和大范围推广应用具有一定的参考意义。     

基于无线通讯网络的GPS多天线监测系统及其应用

介绍了基于无线通讯网络的GPS多天线监测系统的构成情况,包括系统设计、数据传输与管理、数据处理、数据质量分析和控制等。在公路边坡变形监测中的实际应用结果表明,该系统1 h测量精度已达到3.0 mm左右,既能自动连续地对滑坡变形进行监测,又能大幅度降低整个监测系统的费用,是滑坡等地质灾害变形监测的理想技术之一。     

海底电场传感器原理及研制技术

因海底电场信号微弱，海下自然环境复杂以及海水导电介质以氯离子为主等原因，用于海下电场测量的电场传感器在材料和结构上有其特殊性。研制海底电场传感器成为开展海洋大地电磁探测的重要技术内容之一。研制过程遇到的主要技术问题有；海底电极材料的选择；电极的制作工艺；承压与密封技术；海水运动对测量产生不利影响的克服办法；水下弱信号传输的抗干扰问题，等等，阐述了对上述问题的解决办法。提出了海底电场传感器的全套研制方案。并列举了相关的室内模拟实验和海洋试验的结果。     

人工神经网络在桩基工程中的应用综述

对人工神经网络在桩基工程中的应用研究工作进行了回顾与评述。总结了神经网络在单桩承载力、荷载－位移关系预测以及基桩动测完整性判释等方面的技术成果与水平，并分析和探讨了进一步的研究方向和应用前景。     

贝叶斯网络在水资源管理中的应用

为了解决水资源管理中具有不确定性的多目标决策问题,将贝叶斯网络方法引入水资源管理中。通过对实例系统中变量间相互关系的分析,构建描述变量间不确定性关系的贝叶斯网络模型,其中包括表示其依赖关系的有向无环图和表示其具体概率依赖程度的条件概率表,并在6个目标变量均达到预期目标的前提下进行概率推理。实例结果表明：当补偿款数额增加到500元/亩时,所有的目标变量均可达到最优,因此确定出政府应给农民补偿款的数额为500元/亩的合理水资源决策方案。贝叶斯网络以图模型的方式直观地表达了实例系统中变量之间的不确定性关系,概率推理的结果兼顾了环境效益以及农民的利益,使多个预期目标均达到了最优,有效地解决了水资源管理中具有不确定性的多目标决策问题。     

浅谈多传感器信息融合技术

多传感器信息融合广泛应用于自动目标识别、战场监视、机器人、工业过程控制、遥感、图象处理、模式识别等领域。介绍了多传感器信息融合技术的概念、原理、功能模型,其融合方法主要介绍了Dempster-Shafer证据理论(D-S证据理论),由于D-S证据理论存在处理大量不确定的系统估计问题的特性,可以将其应用于势态估计问题。     

数字式智能化锚索预应力传感器的研究与设计

预应力传感器是锚固工程，预应力混凝土工程，预应力桥梁工程等领域进行监测，研究与试验必不可少的测量用传感器，在分析预应力传感器[研究现状的基础上，详细了介绍了数字式智能化锚索预应力传感器的工作原理，结论设计，计量检定结果，主要特点和应用情况。