Conflicts involve powerful experiences. The residue of these experiences is captured by the concept and language of emotion. Indiscriminate killing creates fear; targeted violence produces anger and ...a desire for vengeance; political status reversals spawn resentment; cultural prejudices sustain ethnic contempt. These emotions can become resources for political entrepreneurs. A broad range of Western interventions are based on a view of human nature as narrowly rational. Correspondingly, intervention policy generally aims to alter material incentives ('sticks and carrots') to influence behavior. In response, poorer and weaker actors who wish to block or change this Western implemented 'game' use emotions as resources. This book examines the strategic use of emotion in the conflicts and interventions occurring in the Western Balkans over a twenty-year period. The book concentrates on the conflicts among Albanian and Slavic populations (Kosovo, Montenegro, Macedonia, South Serbia), along with some comparisons to Bosnia.
The present review paper focuses on direct measurements of oscillatory forces. Beside the surface forces apparatus (SFA), atomic force microscopy (AFM) has emerged as the most commonly used technique ...to measure surface forces. Recent instrumental advances of both methods are highlighted in the review. Different systems, showing oscillatory forces are classified. Principle distinction is made between 1-component liquids (water, organic liquids and liquid crystals), pseudo 1-component liquids (ionic liquids and microemulsions) and 2-component liquids (dispersions containing polyelectrolytes, micelles or nanoparticles). In the last few years, the oscillatory force studies address particle characterisation, synergistic effects in multicomponent systems, the introduction of ‘switchable’ forces, and resolving liquid properties under confinement. Last but not least, the ability of AFM and SFA to measure oscillatory forces is discussed.
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•Oscillatory forces can be used as a tool for particle characterisation.•Synergistic effects of oscillatory forces emerge when multiple components are dispersed.•Oscillatory forces can be switched by structural transitions in the liquid.•Liquid properties under confinement are accessible via scattering methods using different geometries.•Differences in direct forces measurements from atomic force microscopy and surface forces apparatus are discussed.
Wearable device-based shear force sensing has been a challenging problem, whereas shear-force sensing plays a crucial role in motion measurement and robot manipulation. This paper presents a ...three-dimensional (3-D) flexible force sensor for measuring uniaxial vertical (i.e., normal) and 2-D shear forces. The proposed sensor is fabricated with silica gel and force-sensitive resistors (FSRs). A novel force decoupling method based on the hemispherical structure has been developed, which only requires calibration from the vertical direction, i.e., Z-axis. Experiments were carried out with a triaxial linear motion stage and a 3-D force sensor. Results show that the sensing module could measure Z-axis force ranging from 0 to 10 N with RE (relative error) of 3.2%, and shear forces (X- and Y-axes) ranging from 0 to 1.6 N with an RE of 5.5% and 5.9%, respectively. The proposed sensing module can be employed in application scenarios that require measuring interfacial stress.
During cardiac surgery, the excessive or insufficient contact force between the tip of catheter and heart tissue will lead to the cardiac penetration or noneffective ablative lesion. Usually, the ...surgeon can only estimate the force at the distal end roughly from their experience by operating the catheter's proximal handle. In this paper, we design a fiber Bragg grating-based triaxial force sensor with parallel flexure hinges to sense the contact force. The proposed mechanism integrated with parallel flexure hinges is capable of achieving an excellent lateral and axial stiffness balance to guarantee the resolution at each direction with the same order of magnitude. The mathematical model is built to design a suitable stiffness configuration and validate the design reasonability. The model-based and model-free methods are adopted to decouple lateral and axial force components. Experimental results demonstrate that the developed 8 French size force sensor can successfully achieve the triaxial force prediction with <;1 g resolution using both decoupling methods. And the model-free method can accomplish a higher accuracy with RMS error <;1% of full scale of -100 g, 100 g along the lateral direction and 0 g, 100 g along the axial compression direction.
The cross-bridge theory predicts that muscle force is determined by muscle length and the velocity of active muscle length changes. However, before the formulation of the cross-bridge theory, it had ...been observed that the isometric force at a given muscle length is enhanced or depressed depending on active muscle length changes before that given length is reached. These enhanced and depressed force states are termed residual force enhancement (rFE) and residual force depression (rFD), respectively, and together they are known as the history-dependent features of muscle force production. In this review, we introduce early attempts in explaining rFE and rFD before we discuss more recent research from the past 25 years which has contributed to a better understanding of the mechanisms underpinning rFE and rFD. Specifically, we discuss the increasing number of findings on rFE and rFD which challenge the cross-bridge theory and propose that the elastic element titin plays a role in explaining muscle history-dependence. Accordingly, new three-filament models of force production including titin seem to provide better insight into the mechanism of muscle contraction. Complementary to the mechanisms behind muscle history-dependence, we also show various implications for muscle history-dependence on in-vivo human muscle function such as during stretch–shortening cycles. We conclude that titin function needs to be better understood if a new three-filament muscle model which includes titin, is to be established. From an applied perspective, it remains to be elucidated how muscle history-dependence affects locomotion and motor control, and whether history-dependent features can be changed by training.
Provides a critical understanding and evaluation of
police tactics and the use of force
Police violence has historically played an important role in
shaping public attitudes toward the government. ...Community trust and
confidence in policing have been undermined by the perception that
officers are using force unnecessarily, too frequently, or in
problematic ways. The use of force, or harm suffered by a community
as a result of such force, can also serve as a flashpoint, a spark
that ignites long-simmering community hostility.
In Evaluating Police Uses of Force , legal scholar Seth W.
Stoughton, former deputy chief of police Jeffrey J. Noble, and
distinguished criminologist Geoffrey P. Alpert explore a critical
but largely overlooked facet of the difficult and controversial
issues of police violence and accountability: how does society
evaluate use-of-force incidents? By leading readers through answers
to this question from four different perspectives-constitutional
law, state law, administrative regulation, and community
expectations-and by providing critical information about police
tactics and force options that are implicated within those
frameworks, Evaluating Police Uses of Force helps situate
readers within broader conversations about governmental
accountability, the role that police play in modern society, and
how officers should go about fulfilling their duties.
A contact force sensor is a critical clinical unit while performing cardiac ablation procedures. The success rate of these procedures is determined by the effective contact between the tip and the ...heart tissues. Using a miniaturized, susceptible tri-axial force sensor in the cardiac ablation catheter is quintessential to determine the force acting on the tip accurately. This paper discusses the design, fabrication, and comparison of two MEMS-based force sensors that can potentially be integrated with the catheter tip for better sensitivity. The working principle, shape (ring-type), and outer dimensions of both the sensors are similar, with a strategically positioned narrow rectangular cavity in the second sensor. Finite element analysis is performed to validate the performances of both sensors with the experimental results. The experiments show that sensor 2 (with the rectangular cavity on bridges) has <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">\sim 1.84\times </tex-math></inline-formula> higher sensitivity than sensor 1 (bridges with no rectangular cavity). The results demonstrate the possibility of integrating the sensor with the catheter tip for measuring catheter contact force.
The Air Force Medical Service (AFMS) currently runs three in-theater hospitals for severely injured or wounded personnel. Part of the practioners' preparation was treating DoD beneficiaries for a ...broad range of injuries and illnesses. Opportunities for this preparation are not as numerous "in house" as they once were, and AFMS does not always get proper credit for those gained elsewhere. Proper credit for that work is important for funding.
Atomic force microscopy (AFM) is an exciting technique for biophysical studies of single molecules, but its usefulness is limited by instrumental drift. We dramatically reduced positional drift by ...adding two lasers to track and thereby actively stabilize the tip and the surface. These lasers also enabled label-free optical images that were spatially aligned to the tip position. Finally, sub-pN force stability over 100s was achieved by removing the gold coating from soft cantilevers. These enhancements to AFM instrumentation can immediately benefit research in biophysics and nanoscience.